The FDA is warning restaurants and retailers about possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination in Sun Hong enoki mushrooms that were sourced from China. Sun Hong Foods is located in Montebello, California. Consumers should not eat these mushrooms, and restaurants and retailers should not sell them.
On November 28, 2022, Missouri state partners, as part of the FDAs Laboratory Flexible Funding Model Cooperative Agreement Program, collected enoki mushrooms from retail markets in that state. One sample labeled as Sun Hong Foods tested positive for the pathogen. The FDA is waiting for more information on any other distribution of these mushrooms.
This particular strain does not appear to match any clinical isolates from active outbreaks. In other words, no illnesses have been linked to these mushrooms at this time.
If you have these Sun Hong enoki mushrooms in your establishment, do not serve them to others or sell them. They should be discarded or returned to the distributor.
If you ate these mushrooms, watch out for symptoms of listeriosis, the illness caused by this pathogen, that can take up to 70 days to appear. Depending on the health of the person, symptoms can be severe or mild. Pregnant people, the elderly, the very young, and anyone with a chronic illness or compromised immune system can become seriously ill.
The severe form has symptoms including a high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, confusion, and loss of balance that may be preceded by nausea and diarrhea. Pregnant people can suffer from miscarriage and stilbirth, even though their symptoms may be mild and similar to the flu.
