An Almark Foods hard boiled eggs Listeria monocytogenes outbreak has sickened seven people in five states, according to the CDC. Four of the seven people sickened have been hospitalized, and one death has been reported in Texas. The bulk, fresh hard-boiled eggs produced by Almark Foods of Gainesville, Georgia are suspected intros outbreak.
The case count by state is: Florida (1), Maine (1), Pennsylvania (1), South Carolina (2), and Texas (2). Listeria specimens were collected from ill people from April 10, 2017 to November 12, 2019. The patient age range is from less than 1 to 72, with a median age of 75. One illness was reported in a newborn who was infected with Listeria while the mother was pregnant, but the newborn survived.
Of the five people who were interviewed by officials, four said they ate products containing eggs. Three of those people said they ate hard boiled eggs in deli salads purchased at grocery stores and in salads eaten in restaurants.
Two samples taken during a routine inspection of the Almark Foods facility tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. Those samples were closely related genetically to bacterial isolates taken from ill people in this outbreak.
The egg have not been recalled. But, because Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and deadly infections, the CDC is warning against selling, serving, or using these eggs to make other food products. The eggs were packaged in plastic pails for use nationwide by food service operators and have a 49-day shelf life.
Retailers and other food service operators should know who supplies their bulk hard-boiled eggs. Consumers won’t be able to tell if foods they have purchased from stores contain these eggs. So at this point, people at higher risk for Listeria infections should throw away any store-bought hard boiled eggs or products containing hard-boiled eggs, such as egg salad.
You can contact food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker for help by calling 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
Noted food safety attorney Fred Pritzker, who has represented many people sickened with Listeria monocytogenes infections, said, “Not many people would even think about the possibility of a hard boiled eggs Listeria monocytogenes outbreak. But any and all foods can be contaminated at any time during the food production process.”
People with chronic illnesses, young children, pregnant women, and chronic illness are more likely to become seriously ill if they contract this infection. People on dialysis are 50 times more likely than healthy people to get a Listeria infection. People with cancer and pregnant women are 10 times more likely than others to contract this infection. And adults who are age 65 and older are four times more likely to get a Listeria monocytogenes infection.
If you have products like this at home, don’t eat them. Throw them away in a secure garbage can with a tight fitting lid, regardless of where you bought them or the use-by or best by date.
If you buy products made with hard-boiled eggs, or order or eat items made with hard boiled eggs at a restaurant, before you buy or order them, make sure they are not from Almark Foods. If the store or restaurant doesn’t know where their hard boiled eggs come from, don’t buy or order the product.
Investigators are still collecting records from grocery stores and restaurants where ill people said they ate hard boiled eggs. Officials are documenting the distribution and production chain, as well as the source of the hard boiled eggs to figure out where the contamination happened.
Symptoms of a Listeria monocytogenes infection include a stiff neck, high fever, severe headache, muscle aches, and confusion. Pregnant women may only be mildly ill with flu-like symptoms, but listeriosis can cause premature delivery, miscarriage, stillbirth, and life-threatening infection of the newborn. If you have been experiencing these symptoms, especially after eating Almark Foods hard boiled eggs, see your doctor. You may be part of this hard boiled eggs Listeria monocytogenes outbreak.
