Listeria Blog - Surveillance & analysis on Listeria news & outbreaks

This comes after cheese samples were found to contain traces of Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus.  The samples were collected in California on June 30, but the Missouri-based cheese company has been asked to stop production and distribution while further tests are carried out.

Morningland Dairy produces raw milk Cheddar and Colby cheeses and raw milk goat Cheddar & Colby cheeses.  The halt is considered temporary while the Food and Agriculture Department looks into the matter further.

Zemco Industries in Buffalo, New York, has recalled approximately 380,000 pounds of deli meat that may be contaminated with bacteria that can cause a potentially fatal disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

The products were distributed to Wal-Marts nationwide, according to the USDA's website.

The meats may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which was discovered in a retail sample collected by inspectors in Georgia. The USDA has received no reports of illnesses associated with the meats.

"Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease," according to the USDA. "Healthy people rarely contract listeriosis. However, listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea.

"Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy," the USDA said.

The products subject to recall are:

-- 25.5-pound cases of "Marketside Grab and Go Sandwiches BLACK FOREST HAM With Natural Juices Coated with Caramel Color" with the number 17800 1300.

-- 28.49-pound cases of "Marketside Grab and Go Sandwiches HOT HAM, HARD SALAMI, PEPPERONI, SANDWICH PEPPERS" with the number 17803 1300.

-- 32.67-pound cases of "Marketside Grab and Go Sandwiches VIRGINIA BRAND HAM With Natural Juices, MADE IN NEW YORK, FULLY COOKED BACON, SANDWICH PICKLES, SANDWICH PEPPERS" with the number 17804 1300.

-- 25.5-pound cases of "Marketside Grab and Go Sandwiches ANGUS ROAST BEEF Coated with Caramel Color" with the number 17805 1300.

The meats were produced on dates ranging from June 18 to July 2, 2010. The "Use By" dates range from August 20 to September 10, 2010. 

Pregnant women who come from ethnic backgrounds and low-income areas have a higher risk of infection from listeria food poisoning, according to research for the United Kingdom's Health Protection Agency.

The findings are contained in two studies published in the recent edition of Eurosurveillance.

The studies found 1,510 cases of listeriosis in the UK between 2001 and 2008, including 181 in pregnant women.

Of these, almost 40 percent (66 individuals out of 181) were women from an ethnic minority that was established from the first and surname of the patient.  Continue reading at Food Safety News.