Canada Puts New Restrictions on Pistachios from Iran Amid Salmonella Outbreak.

Ontario December 2025: More people have become ill from salmonella due to an outbreak linked to some brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products from Iran, prompting new restrictions on imports of the nut. As of December 02nd, the Public Health Agency of Canada says there are now 155 lab-confirmed cases of salmonella infections across six provinces, with the majority found in Ontario and Quebec. Other infections have been confirmed in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick.

The illness has impacted people from one to 95, with 70% of cases among women and a total of 24 people hospitalised. “We’re looking at quite a lot of illness associated with this event”, said April Hexemer, director of the outbreak management division at PHAC. “It is a concerning event and that is why we’ve issued this new advice. We’re trying very hard to control it and to put an end to it”.

Earlier, Between November 12th and November 24th, a total of 84 products were recalled ranging from roasted salted pistachios and raw kernels to pistachio eclairs and baklava. The various products were sold at stores in seven provinces: B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, though some were also sold online.

Pistachios from Iran face further restrictions, as the recalls were a part of an ongoing food safety investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that started with the Habibi brand of pistachio kernel on July 24th.

The number of illnesses is an increase from PHAC’s last report on October 21st, when there were 117 cases confirmed and 17 hospitalizations. According to PHAC, people became sick between early March and as recently as mid-November 2025. The agency said many people who became sick reported eating pistachios, and products containing pistachios.

The various strains of salmonella in the outbreak were found in samples of recalled pistachios and samples of recalled Dubai-style chocolate. “It does appear a little bit niche, but the thing is when we’re out and about picking up a little snack, and you might be drawn to a baked item that has pistachios on top of it, there’s no way to tell where those pistachios came from”, April Hexemer said. “We just really don’t know how much pistachios from Iran we’re routinely consuming”.

Vide a Press Release, CFIA has confirmed that the pistachios involved in the current recalls were imported from Iran, though did not say if it was from a specific crop. At the end of September, as a result of its investigation, the CFIA announced it would implement a temporary restriction of imports of pistachios and pistachio-containing products from Iran as a precautionary measure.

On Tuesday – 02nd December 2025, the agency announced further measures, making it mandatory for all federally-licenced importers and manufacturers that have Iranian pistachios that were imported prior to September 27th, to hold and test them for salmonella before they can be sold in Canada. The new measures include any products made with pistachios from Iran that are not already recalled.

April Hexamer have also said people should be cautious as cross-contamination is possible should they have a contaminated product in the kitchen or even your lunch bag. This includes cooking, with Hexemer cautioning people against using the recalled in cooking as she said it’s not always possible to kill salmonella in pistachios through baking or cooking.

While food contaminated with salmonella may not look or smell spoiled, it can make you sick, with symptoms ranging from fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea. It can take more than a month from the time someone gets sick, sees a doctor, gets tested, and has their results confirmed and PHAC says the illness reporting period for this outbreak is between 12 and 99 days after illness onset. PHAC says researchers estimate for each case of salmonella reported to public health, there are 26 more cases that are not reported.

Team Maverick.