Health: Hundreds Of Ready-To-Eat Foods Have Been Recalled Due To Listeria Contamination
Due to possible listeria contamination, the Food and Drug Administration recalled over 400 food products, including ready-to-eat sandwiches, salads, yoghurt, and wraps.
Fresh Ideation Food Group, based in Baltimore, recalls products sold from January 24 to January 30 in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. According to the company’s announcement, no illnesses had been reported as of Friday.
“The recall was initiated after environmental samples from the company tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes,” according to the announcement.
Also Read | SNAP: Is it the same as food stamps?
Even though the goods are sold under numerous different brand names, all recalled products bear the labelling Fresh Creative Cuisine at the bottom and have a “fresh through” or “sell through” date between January 31 and February 6.
Call the company at 855-969-3338 if you purchased any impacted products, which you can find here.
Eating food contaminated with listeria can result in a serious infection with symptoms like fever, stiffness, headache, nausea, and diarrhoea, as well as miscarriage and stillbirth in pregnant women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms usually appear one to four weeks after consuming listeria-contaminated food, though they can show up earlier or later.
According to the CDC, those at the highest risk of developing a serious illness include pregnant women, infants, adults over 65, and those with compromised immune systems.
Prepared meals Listeria and other bacteria are particularly dangerous in foods like cheese and deli meat. Bacteria can grow even when food is refrigerated if not cooked to the proper temperature, handled carelessly, or kept at the appropriate temperature throughout distribution and storage.
According to Darin Detwiler, a professor of food policy at Northeastern University, the added risk with ready-to-eat food is that “people are unlikely to take a kill step,” like cooking, which would kill harmful bacteria.
Detwiler cites recent high-profile food safety issues involving products that influencers first recommended and then warned consumers against as evidence that social media has “played a big role in terms of consumers knowing a lot more about food safety.”
The author claims that our food supply will be safer thanks to new policies that policymakers support due to consumer demand.
Also Read | Here Are 5 Protein Rich Snack Ideas That You Must Try To Increase Your Protein Intake
