The enoki mushrooms Listeria monocytogenes outbreak linked to Utopia Foods and Sun Hong Foods products has ended with five people sick in four states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the last update released in January 2023, there were three people sick.
The case count by state is: California (2), Michigan (1), Nevada (1), and New Jersey (1). The new state added to this outbreak is New Jersey, and one more patient in California was added to the case count. Ill person’s samples were collected from October 5, 2022 to February 3, 2023. The patient age range is from less than one to 63 years. There were two strains of Listeria monocytogenes that made people sick in this outbreak.
Two of the patients reported eating enoki mushrooms or eating at restaurants with menu items containing enoki mushrooms. The remaining three patients did not report eating enoki mushrooms, but two of them reporting shopping at grocery stores or eating at restaurants that sell Asian foods.
Whole genome sequencing of patient isolates showed that they are closely related genetically, which means that these people likely got sick from eating the same food. And the FDA found Listeria in one sample of enoki mushrooms they collected at import; the bacteria in this sample was closely related genetically to the patient isolates. but the firm associated with this sample was not identified as a potential source of the mushrooms in this outbreak.
In November 2022, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development found Listeria in a sample of Green Day Produce mushrooms, but it was not the outbreak wsample and was not linked to any Listeria illnesses in the country. In January 2023, FDA found the outbreak strain of Lsiteira monocytogenes in an import sample of Utopia Foods mushrooms imported from China. In December 2022 Missouri officials found one of the outbreak strains of Listeria in a sample of enoki mushrooms produced by Shandong Youth Biotechnology Company that was distributed by Sun Hong Foods.
Symptoms of listeriosis, the illness caused by this pathogen, can take as long as 70 days to appear. People who are severely ill experience a high fever, severe headache, a stiff neck, and muscle aches, often preceded by nausea and diarrhea. If you have eaten enoki mushrooms and have been ill with these symptoms, see your doctor. You may be part of this enoki mushroom Listeria monocytogenes outbreak.
If you have been sickened with a Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning infection, please contact our experienced attorneys for help with a possible lawsuit at 1-888-377-8900 or text us at 612-261-0856. Our firm represents clients in lawsuits against grocery stores, restaurants, and food processors.
