Local Dillons stores are recalling their Tri-Bean salad after learning one of its key ingredients may have been exposed to a bacterium described as one of the most toxic naturally occurring substances.

The recall was announced Tuesday by The Kroger Co., the parent company of Dillons, Gerbes and Kroger grocery stores. It affects locations in 14 states, including Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Colorado. The salads include green beans made by New Era Canning Co., which initiated a voluntary recall after discovering its beans may have been exposed to clostridium botulinum spores.

Botulinum spores can grow and develop into the potentially fatal botulism disease.

Sheila Lowrie, a spokeswoman for Dillons, said it was impossible to determine whether any particular store carried the salad because each store determines which products to feature in its deli case. Managers of the four Dillons stores in Lawrence would not say whether they’d carried the product on their shelves, and they directed all questions to corporate offices.

“It is a product that was carried on the shelves of some of our stores in Kansas,” Lowrie said.

Customers are encouraged to immediately dispose of the product and then call their local store for a refund. They are encouraged to either keep the label from the product or their receipt to expedite a refund, Lowrie said.

The New Era recall affects only some of its larger cans, which weigh six to seven pounds each.

Botulinum can be so toxic that it has been considered a possible terrorism weapon. However, the toxin can be safely used in minute quantities in cosmetic surgery. Lowrie said the company was encouraging customers to dispose of the product, “even if it does not look or appear spoiled.”

Lowrie said customers who have any questions should contact Inter-American Products, a Kroger division, at (800) 697-2448.

So far, the recall is entirely voluntary, and no one had reported becoming ill either because of the Dillons salad or the beans produced by the canning company. In a statement from New Era, the company said the problem was discovered by a routine Food and Drug Administration inspection. However, no beans have tested positive for the bacteria, the statement said.