Two Listeriosis Recalls Posted by FDA

The FDA has posted two separate food recalls for pre-packaged American Subs and Smoked Salmon sold at grocery stores and convenience stores. Sampling has detected that the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which could cause listeriosis food poisoning.

On Aug 28, 2008, Landshire, Inc. of Belleville, Illinois, recalled its “Fresh from the Deli” American Sub sandwiches which were sold at Circle K Convenience Stores in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

On Aug 29, 2008, Trans-Ocean Products, Inc. of Bellingham, Washington, recalled its Cracked Pepper Style Smoked Salmon which was sold at three supermarket chains in seven different states. These were Brookshire Brothers in Texas and Louisiana, Price Choppers in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont, and Giant Eagle stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The prepackaged food products could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which is a bacterium that can cause serious and potentially fatal infections in newborns, the elderly, pregnant women and those with weak immune systems. Healthy individuals may experience symptoms of fever, headache, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain. In severe cases, the bacteria could enter the nervous system, causing meningitis. Pregnant women who are infected may suffer miscarriages, stillbirths or premature delivery.

The recalled Circle K American Subs were labeled “Fresh from the Deli,” and sold in individual 9.75 ounce clear-wrapped packages with a black tray inside. The listeria recall impacts about 812 sandwiches from lot number 21882, which contain a UPC code of 9748800540.

The recalled Smoked Salmon were sold in 4 ounce resealable plastic pouches with sliced cold smoked salmon with black pepper. The products are labeled “transOcean Cracked Pepper Style Smoked Salmon,” with lot number 54933-2.

In both cases, routine testing of samples from the recalled lots revealed Listeria contamination. No cases of listeria food poisoning have been reported to date.