A lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Minnesota man who allegedly contracted a Listeria infection, listeriosis, from contaminated caramel apples he purchased at a Cottage Grove, Minnesota, Cub Foods store. The complaint, filed in Fourth Judicial District Court in Hennepin County, names Bidart Bros. Inc. and Supervalu Inc. as defendants (Spear v. Bidart Bros. Inc., Supervalu Inc., Cub Foods, Case No. 27-CV-15-4555). The Minnesota man is one of thirty-five confirmed listeriosis cases in an outbreak linked to caramel apples made with Bidart Bros. apples and sold under the brand names Carnival, Happy Apples, and Merb’s Candies. People from 12 states were sickened: they live in Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, and … [Read more...]
People From Five Kansas Counties Hit With Listeria in Past Year
Residents from five Kansas counties have been hit with Listeria food poisoning since January 2014, including five Kansans believed to be sickened by contaminated Blue Bell ice cream served at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita. The statistics from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment don't reveal names or hometowns of those who became ill, nor would the agency say which of the six listeriosis patients from the five counties are considered victims of the Blue Bell/Via Christi outbreak. Of the six Kansas listeriosis patients, two are from Sedgwick County, which is dominated by the Wichita area. One each is from Harvey (county seat is Newton, Kansas); Wyandotte (county seat is Kansas City); Shawnee (county seat is Topeka, Kansas) and Ford (county seat is Dodge City, … [Read more...]
Blue Bell Had Trouble With Ice Cream Line Before Listeria Discovery
The maker of Blue Bell ice cream shut down its Scoops production line even before South Carolina health inspectors discovered Listeria in products from the same line, the company's CEO has said in two separate interviews about a deadly Kansas listeriosis outbreak associated with Scoops. Blue Bell CEO Paul Cruse told The Houston Chonicle in a March 13 story that the machine utilized to make Scoops and other single-serve items had not been in operation for about a month and a half. That means the shutdown occurred days if not weeks before February 12, when the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control first detected Listeria monocytogenes in two types of Blue Bell products made on the same line. The checks were part of routine inspections of food products at a … [Read more...]
Missouri Links Were Central to Caramel Apple Listeria Outbreak
Five Missouri residents were confirmed as case patients in the Listeria caramel apple outbreak and two Missouri food companies were involved in key recalls of caramel apples that they distributed around the country. Only one other state besides Missouri had more than five listeriosis victims in the outbreak and one of the state's recalls covered caramel apples made by a Missouri company for Kroger stores in many different parts of the country. From the outset of public awareness of this outbreak in mid- to late-December, Missouri citizens and companies were in the discussion. On December 24, 2014, the Happy Apple Company of Washington, Missouri, issued a recall of many Happy Apple Brand caramel apples because they had the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Some … [Read more...]
Arizona Shares Pain of Listeria Outbreak Linked to Caramel Apples
Arizona was on the receiving end of caramel apples that were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an unfortunate distribution that left four state residents hospitalized from the potentially deadly infections that followed. The four confirmed outbreak cases in Arizona stand as the third most for any state. One of the victims was a baby with Listeria and three of the four are females who range in age up to 76. At least in Arizona, no fatalities were reported. In New Mexico and California, food safety lawyers are suing the supplier of the apples, Bidart Brothers, on behalf of several case patients, one of whom died. More litigation is expected in other states as the investigation continues into a reported 32 illnesses and seven deaths across 11 states. Evidence of matching strains of … [Read more...]
Cheese Listeria Outbreak Caused 2013 Shutdown of Crave Brothers
On July 3, 2013, Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese Company of Waterloo, Wisconsin, voluntarily recalled its Les Frères, Petit Frère, and Petit Frère with Truffles cheeses with make dates of July 1, 2013, or prior. The recalled cheeses were distributed nationwide through retail stores that included some Whole Foods outlets, restaurant supply carriers and mail orders. Investigators in Minnesota and elsewhere, including food safety and infectious disease experts at the FDA and CDC, associated the cheese with a multi-state outbreak of listeriosis from the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. This food poisoning outbreak killed a person in Minnesota and caused a pregnant woman to have a miscarriage. Four other people were hospitalized and the outbreak touched Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Texas. The … [Read more...]
Bidart Bros. Publicly Contrite Over Listeria Caramel Apple Outbreak
The California company at the center of a Listeria caramel apple lawsuit has expressed sorrow for victims of the outbreak and pledged to work in complete cooperation with ongoing investigations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). In a public letter published on the FDA's food safety pages, the family-owned company also said it received annual USDA certification in September 2014, just one month before the outbreak began. "Our hearts go out to all who have been impacted by the apple-related listeriosis outbreak,'' said Leonard Bidart, president of Bidart Bros. "As a family-owned grower operating in California since the 1930s, we place safety at the forefront of everything we … [Read more...]
Attorney Investigating Listeria Outbreak Linked to Caramel Apples
Attorney Fred Pritzker and his Bad Bug Law Team® are investigating the Listeria outbreak linked to caramel apples that has so far has sickened 28 people in 10 states: Arizona (4), California (1), Minnesota (4), Missouri (5), New Mexico (5), North Carolina (1), Texas (4), Utah (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (2). "At this stage of the investigation, it is absolutely essential to know the chain of distribution for this product," said attorney Pritzker. "We need to find out where these products were processed and sold and the point along the chain of distribution where the contamination occurred. Without this information, it will be impossible to trace back all of the case patients to the source of the Listeria.” It is for this reason that Pritzker is calling on the processors and … [Read more...]
Listeria Adapts to Survive, Danish Researchers Find
Listeria is often described as rare and deadly. Now researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have added another word to describe the bacteria: adaptable. They exposed Listeria to substances normally used to fight it and studies its reaction. They found that Listeria used different strategies to resist antibiotics, bile, salt, acid and ethanol. "Generally speaking, Listeria must be described as extremely adaptable. It is constantly aware of its surroundings and if the environment changes around it. It reacts instantly and has a number of strategies to withstand threats", said Associate Professor, Birgitte Kallipolitis, PhD . To infect cells, Listeria needs to produce certain proteins, but it can't produce so many that the immune system is triggered. The researchers discovered … [Read more...]
Was Listeria Meningitis Death of Virginia Newborn Linked to Recent Recall?
The mother of a newborn girl, who was delivered five weeks prematurely and died six days later of Listeria Meningitis, says that, while pregnant, she ate food that was part of a nationwide Listeria recall, according to a report by NBC12 News. It would be the first illness and death tied to a recent Listeria recall if epidemiological tests establish a link. Shortly after she was born, little Kennedy Grace Briggs had difficulty breathing and developed a rash. Tests showed she had a Listeria infection and developed Listeria Meningitis, an often fatal form of meningitis. Baby Kennedy's parents sat she was a red-head and fighter who battled the infection for almost a week. "She was so loved," Jenae told NBC12 News. Pregnant women are at special risk for Listeria. Although they may only … [Read more...]
