1 dead, 7 sick due to egg products under recall nationwide

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports one person has died and seven other patients have become ill due to consumption of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to bulk, fresh hard-boiled eggs produced by Almark Foods of Gainesville, Georgia.

Latest Outbreak Information

• Seven people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported from five states
• Four hospitalizations have been reported. One death has been reported from Texas
• Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence indicates that bulk hard-boiled eggs from Almark Foods are a likely source of this outbreak
• This investigation is ongoing to determine the source of contamination and if additional products are linked to illness
  CDC will provide updates when more information is available

Bakkavor Foods USA, Inc. voluntarily recalled Trader Joe’s Egg Salad, 6 oz and Trader Joe’s Old Fashioned Potato Salad, 20 oz with “USE BY” date codes up through and including 12/27/19 because these products have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Almark Foods reported it supplied certain lots of Broken Egg Whites products in 20 Lbs pails, which may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and its association with a Listeria monocytogenes foodborne illness investigation, promting the recall of Trader Joe’s related products.

Products were distributed to Trader Joe’s retail stores in Alabama, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont and Wisconsin.

MORE: Trader Joe’s recalls egg salad, potato salad for listeria concerns

Listeria monocytogenes is an organism, which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Advice for people at higher risk for Listeria infection

Such as pregnant women and their newborns, adults ages 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems, such as people with cancer or on dialysis:

The CDC advises that people at higher risk for Listeria infection throw away any store-bought hard-boiled eggs or products containing hard-boiled eggs, such as egg salad.

• If you have these products at home, don’t eat them. Throw them away, regardless of where you bought them or the use-by date
• Wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators and freezers where the products were stored. Follow these five steps to clean your refrigerator
• This advice does not include eggs hard-boiled at home or homemade products made with those eggs, such as egg salad or deviled eggs

If you buy products with hard-boiled eggs, or order or eat items with hard-boiled eggs at a restaurant:

• Before you buy, order, or eat, confirm with the store or restaurant that they do not use hard-boiled eggs produced by Almark Foods
• If they use hard-boiled eggs produced by Almark Foods, don’t buy or order the product
• If they don’t know where their hard-boiled eggs are from, don’t buy or order the product

People at higher risk for Listeria infection are much more likely than the general public to get sick after eating a food contaminated with this bacteria.

• People on dialysis are 50 times more likely to get a Listeria infection
• People with cancer and pregnant women are 10 times more likely than other people to get a Listeria infection
• Adults 65 and older are four times more likely to get an infection