From caramel apples to soybean sprouts, Listeria made its way into a number of foods this year. Sometimes, there were recalls, other times there were outbreaks of illness. Every Listeria outbreak this year included fatalities.
During 2014 a variety of foods were recalled for Listeria contamination. They include: cheese, ice cream, bagged salad, peanut butter, salsa, spreads, mangos, walnuts, crab meat, egg salad, smoked salmon, vending machine sandwiches, peaches and other stone fruits, caramel apples, bean sprouts, yogurt, anchovies and caramel apples.
In some cases, illnesses were reported in association with eating food contaminated with Listeria. There have been four multistate Listeria outbreaks this year. All of them included fatalities.
Listeria illnesses have prompted a recall of Snoqualmie, Emerald & Spruce, and Top Pot ice cream products sold at Safeway, QFC, Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, PCC, Bartell Drugs, Metropolitan Market and Albertsons. The recall includes all ice cream, gelato, custard and sorbet produced during 2014.
An outbreak linked to prepackaged, commercially produced caramel apples was announced by the Minnesota Department of Health in December. So far, 29 people in 10 states have become ill and five deaths have been reported. There has been a recall for some products involved in the outbreak.
Symptoms of a Listeria infection, which can take as long as 70 days after exposure to develop, include fever, chills, muscle aches, diarrhea and upset stomach. Anyone who has eaten a prepackaged, commercially prepared caramel apples within the last two months and is experiencing these symptoms should see a doctor. Pregnant women can be seriously affected by this illness, and experience stillbirth or miscarriage.
Bean sprouts produced by Wholesome Soy of Chicago, killed two people and sickened three others in an outbreak announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in November. This was the latest in a long line of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to raw sprouts.
Listeria in soft cheese was the source of two deadly outbreaks so far this year, a three-state outbreak linked to Oasis cheeses that killed one person and sickened two others. And, in March, an outbreak linked to Roos Cheese sickened eight people in Maryland and California, killing one of them.
