An examination into a multistate incident revealed that a sample of Boar’s Head liverwurst was tainted with listeria germs.
Due to the possibility that they may contain the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, Boar’s Head has issued a statewide recall for more than 207,000 pounds of deli meat, including liverwurst and ham items.
The Maryland store’s liverwurst tested positive for listeria, prompting the business to launch the recall. The sample was gathered as part of an inquiry into a multistate listeria epidemic that, as of Thursday, has affected 34 individuals in 13 states.
Two of the patients—one in Illinois and the other in New Jersey—died while the remaining individuals were all hospitalized.
Since many of the afflicted people reported consuming turkey, liverwurst, or ham, health officials believe that sliced meat sold at deli counters is most likely to blame for the outbreak.
In order to ascertain if the Maryland sample is linked to the epidemic, more testing is being conducted, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, which made the recall announcement on Friday.
Boar’s Head ready-to-eat liverwurst, which was made between June 11 and July 17 (you can check the product labels here), and other deli meat items including beef salami, bologna, and ham that were created using the same equipment at approximately the same time are included in the recall.
A representative for the Board’s Head stated that the business is working with law enforcement and carrying out its own inquiry.
“Our first concern is our consumers’ health and safety. We promptly and voluntarily withdrew the product as soon as a Listeria adulteration in our Strassburger Brand Liverwurst was detected,” the representative stated in a statement.
“We also decided to voluntarily recall other products that were produced on the same line and on the same day as the liverwurst product out of an excess of caution.”
The USDA advised consumers who purchased the impacted items to discard them or return them to the retailer. They should also clean out their refrigerators since the bacteria can proliferate in cold environments and transfer to other foods.
In the United States, listeria is the third most common cause of food poisoning fatalities.
After consuming tainted food, symptoms often manifest two weeks later, however they might occasionally manifest immediately or up to ten weeks later. Fever, pains in the muscles, fatigue, headache, stiff neck, and disorientation are some of the early symptoms. The bacterium may, in extreme circumstances, result in meningitis or a blood infection.
The illness poses the greatest risk to elderly individuals or those with compromised immune systems. Listeria infection during pregnancy increases the chance of miscarriage, stillbirth, or early delivery in the developing fetus.
Pregnant women and other susceptible individuals are advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stay away from items that carry a high risk of listeria infection, such deli meat, smoked fish, and soft cheeses produced from unpasteurized milk.
But the majority of healthy individuals who have an infection don’t get really sick.
Professor of food regulatory policy at Northeastern University Darin Detwiler stated, “For every case that gets reported, there are 15, 20, or 25 cases that go unreported because there are so many people who get sick and think, ‘Oh, it’s a stomach bug, I’ll get over it.”
For a few reasons, deli meat that has been sliced is deemed high risk. First of all, listeria that gets onto surfaces and equipment in a production facility spreads quickly. Secondly, there isn’t enough heat to destroy the germs since meat is frequently kept in freezers and eaten cold.
The CDC states that reheating deli meat to 165 degrees Fahrenheit or until it is boiling hot reduces the risk.
Detwiler stated that food safety mishaps can happen to any business. According to theory, “what we’re seeing play out right now can result from even a small error when it comes to sanitation in a production facility,” he stated.
According to CDC estimates, around 260 people die and 1,600 people contract listeriosis year. Although there are often a few outbreaks in a given year, the majority of illnesses are unrelated to outbreaks.
A listeria epidemic connected to queso fresco and cotija cheese was discovered by the CDC earlier this year, resulting in 23 hospitalizations and two fatalities.
