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Hard-boiled eggs sold in bulk packaging are believed to be linked to a multi-statelisteria outbreakthat has killed one person, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Federal health officialsissued a food safetyalert on Wednesday warning the public not to serve, sell, use or consume bulk hard-boiled eggs produced at the Almark Foods facility in Gainesville, Ga.
The eggs — which were peeled, hard-boiled, and packaged in plastic pails of various sizes at the facility — may have been sold to food service operators and restaurants to make ready-to-eat dishes such as egg salad and deviled eggs. Though the product has not been recalled, manufacturers are recommended to dispose of any foods made from the eggs regardless of its expiration date.
Four of the seven people reported with listeria infections have been hospitalized, according to the CDC, and one has died from the outbreak. Cases of infection have been reported in Texas, Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
In an investigation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency found that four of the people who fell ill reported eating hard-boiled eggs in deli salads from grocery stores and restaurants.
While the CDC believes they were infected through the consumption of foods made from bulk packaged eggscontaminated with listeria, the agency said in their advisory that Almark Foods branded eggs sold directly to consumer, or any other brands of hard-boiled eggs, were not included in the alert.
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According to the FDA, listeria monocytogenesis can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, elderly people and others with compromised immune systems. While healthy individuals may experience short-term symptoms such as a high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, a listeria infection can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
source: people.com
