On the day Patient 1 in the current Listeria outbreak linked to Dole packaged salads first experienced symptoms of illness, the iPhone 5 was the latest generation of Apple smartphones, Fifty Shades of Grey topped the New York Times Fiction Bestseller list, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon had just declared a state of emergency in Ferguson following the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, and President Barack Obama was 12 days away from showing up to a press conference in a tan suit. It was August 16, 2014. In the seven years since, 15 more patients have been identified using whole genome sequencing, a method that identifies the genetic "fingerprint" of bacteria cultured from sick people and contaminated food. Two of the patients, who lived in Michigan and Wisconsin, … [Read more...]
After Deadly Listeria Outbreak, El Abuelito Stops Making Cheese
After a Listeria outbreak linked to El Abuelito queso fresco ended two pregnancies and left one person dead, the company is no longer making ready-to-eat cheese, a spokesperson from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed to Food Poisoning Bulletin today. El Abuelito first halted production and distribution of its cheese on February 19, 2021, after genetic tests showed the Listeria strain found in queso fresco made by El Abuelito and purchased by one of the people who became ill matched the strain cultured from outbreak patients. Before the outbreak, El Abuelito made queso fresco and other soft, fresh cheeses sold under the brand names El Abuelito, Rio Lindo, Rio Grande, Viejito, El Paisano, El Sabrosito, La Cima, Quesos Finos, San Carlos, and Ideal. These cheeses were … [Read more...]
Will Wrongful Death Claims In Kansas Follow Blue Bell Lawsuit
Now that the first lawsuit has been filed in the Blue Bell Listeria outbreak, will wrongful death claims for Kansas victims follow? Three people who were patients at Via Christi hospital in Wichita who were unknowingly served contaminated Blue Bell products died from their Listeria infections. The patients ate a single-serve Blue Bell product called Scoops during their hospital stays which were later found to be contaminated with Listeria. Scoops are one of several single serve Blue Bell products that were shipped to the company's institutional customers which included hospitals, schools, nursing homes and the retirement community where David Philip Shockley worked. Shockley, the plaintiff in the federal lawsuit filed May 19 against Blue Bell, repeatedly ate single-serve Blue Bell … [Read more...]
Listeria Deaths in Caramel Apple Outbreak Raise Total for Year
One Listeria death for every five cases of listeriosis is the average mortality rate for Listeria food poisoning cases tracked in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is an average that fit the caramel apple Listeria outbreak with the same tragic consequences that health experts saw in other outbreaks of listeriosis in 2014. The seven case patients who died with listeriosis after eating pre-packaged, commercially produced caramel apples lifted last year's Listeria death total in the U.S. to 13, from four outbreaks. State and federal agencies have associated the caramel apple outbreak with fruit supplied by California-based Bidart Brothers Inc. In all, 13 of 50 Listeria outbreak case patients died and one fetal loss was suffered. Not every … [Read more...]
Listeria Warning: Check Your Freezer for Recalled Blue Bell Ice Cream
A deadly outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes linked to ice cream produced at the Blue Bell facility Brenham, Texas has prompted the recall of several Blue Bell products. Five people at the Via Christi Hospital in Wichita, Kansas were sickened after they ate Blue Bell ice cream and milkshakes made with that ice cream. Three of those people died. Investigations by public health officials discovered rare strains of Listeria monocytogenes in samples of Blue Bell Creameries single serving Chocolate Chip Country Cookie Sandwich and the Great Divide Bar ice cream products at a Blue Bell South Carolina distribution center in February 2015. These products were manufactured at the Brenham, Texas facility. Inspections at that facility found the outbreak strains of Listeria monocytogenes in the same … [Read more...]
Listeria Outbreak Prompts Kroger to Pull Blue Bell Products
Kroger has pulled recalled Blue Bell products from its stores after they were linked to a Listeria outbreak that sickened five people at Via Christi hospital in Wichita. The company is also using its recall notification system to warn customers of the problem. Between January 2014 and January 2015, five patients at Via Christi contracted listeriosis from contaminated Blue Bell ice cream they were served while hospitalized for unrelated illnesses. Although the first case occurred during January 2014, the outbreak was not discovered until this month when health officials noticed that two people sickened with the rare outbreak strain had both been Via Christi patients. Lab tests have shown that the rare Listeria strains cultured from the five patients at Via Christi are a match to … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Halts Production of Line Linked to Listeria Outbreak
Blue Bell has halted production of ice cream products linked to a Listeria outbreak that sickened five patients at Via Christi hospital in Wichita killing three of them. Most of the products in question were distributed to food service operations rather than retail stores, the company's CEO Paul Kruse has said in interviews. After Listeria was discovered in Blue Bell products during routine testing by South Carolina's department of health in February, the problem was traced back to Blue Bell's facility in Brenham, Texas. The specific source of contamination was traced to a machine that creates ice cream bars, sandwiches and single scoops, Kruse told ABC News. The machine wasn't properly sanitized, he told KAKE.com. It is not currently in use, he said. The Texas Department of … [Read more...]
