The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) has classified the alert as a Class I recall—its highest and most urgent warning level. The salads were made using cucumbers linked to a multistate salmonella outbreak traced back to Bedner Growers Company.

A tomato recall due to risk of salmonella contamination has been designated as Class I, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's highest warning level, the agency said. The FDA marked the tomato recall affecting three states as Class I, meaning there is a risk of "serious adverse health consequences or death," on May 28.

What was once a cautioned recall due to the possible presence of Salmonella in tomatoes sold in three states is now labeled as "deadly."