Growers Express, the manufacturer of cauliflower, butternut squash and zucchini based vegetable bowls recalled their products after reports about contamination of Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially fatal bacteria.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, Listeria is an organism that can cause fatal infections in elderly people, children and those with weak immune system. Even healthy people may suffer symptoms short term, like nausea, headaches, stiffness, diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever. It is also dangerous to catch if you are pregnant because it can cause stillbirths and miscarriages.
Listeria is a bacteria that is resistant to cold and hot temperatures, even extreme ones. It is also pathogenic, so it can infect humans and cause listeriosis.
This bacteria is found in soil, water and intestines of animals. But animals who carry Listeria does not show any symptoms, so Listeria can be transferred to raw meats, vegetables and dairy products that are unpasteurized. Listeria can still grow in low temperatures, unlike other bacteria. When it gets into a factory environment, or even in your refrigerator, it can live for years.
The US Food and Drug Administration released a study that showed 10% of humans carry the bacteria without them even realizing it. The bacteria can affect pregnant women, the elderly, toddlers, and those with weak immune system. In America, around 1,600 people get infected every year, and 16% of them result in fatality.
Pregnant women who catch Listeria can develop cervical infections, and it may result in sudden abortion during their second or third trimesters, or it could result in stillbirth. The symptoms of listeriosis are similar to flu symptoms because patients experience high fever, nausea and muscle aches. Diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms may also be experienced.
There is still no study that knows the time between the infection and when the symptoms start showing. There are a lot of recommendations given by experts for keeping food safe from this type of bacteria, and they are similar to how we can keep our food safe from other foodborne illnesses.
For meat lovers, remember to cook them properly, you can check the recommended temperatures of the USDA and wash all of the fruits and vegetables that you bought before consuming them.
If you are going to keep your food in your refrigerator and if you are not going to cook it immediately, remember to keep your refrigerator below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have leftover food, make sure to eat them within four days.
There have been 800 cases of Listeria in America alone this year, and there are four outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. In 1998, 21 people, unfortunately, died because of Listeria infection from contaminated hotdogs and meat. Between 1998 and 2009, around 48 people died because of Listeria related illnesses and they were reported by the CDC's Foodborne Outbreak Online Database.
