Massive Frozen Food Recall Issued in Response to Listeria Outbreak
Millions of packages of frozen food from CRF Frozen Foods have been recalled due to concerns about Listeria contamination. The product recall was necessitated by reports of Listeria contaminations that have resulted in illnesses for at least eight people, with the majority of the sick people residing in California. Two of those people eventually died, but health officials have indicated that the primary cause of death in each case was not Listeria.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is still monitoring illness reports in all 50 states as health officials look for signs of the Listeria outbreak spreading and affecting even more people.
Serious Health Concerns about Listeria Outbreak
According to the CDC, Listeriosis is most harmful to anyone over the age of 65, females who are pregnant and individuals who suffer from weakened immune systems. The reality is that Listeria is a very serious health problem for anyone because it can result in significant illnesses and, in the worst cases, death. According to the CDC, approximately 18 percent of all people with Listeriosis end up dying as a result of the bacteria.
The scale of the food product recall is so large, affecting millions of products, because there were reportedly millions of potentially contaminated packages of frozen food shipped throughout the country, including New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Additionally, many frozen food packages containing potentially contaminated fruits and vegetables were distributed in Canada and Mexico.
Matthew Wise, the man who heads the outbreak response team for the CDC, recently observed that one of the reasons that the recall has become so expansive, involving millions of frozen food packages, is that the affected food items have a long shelf life.
Federal health officials with the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are working on a system that will hopefully ensure that future outbreaks of foodborne illnesses like this are less likely. The federal agencies have already come up with a way to track the genetic composition of Listeria, salmonella and E.coli. This allows scientists to more easily trace an outbreak because they can match the bacteria in sick individuals to DNA from the contaminated food that causes the illness in the first place.
For more information about the recent food product recall, view the Yahoo.com article, “Frozen Food Recall Covers Hundreds of Items from Many Stores.”
If you or a loved one sustained an injury or suffered an illness as a result of a defective product or dangerous food item, you need a qualified product liability lawyer on your side. The experienced New York personal injury and product liability attorneys at LaDuca Law Firm will fight to get you compensated for your injuries or illness. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
