Alma Pak blueberry recall: What is Listeria explained as contaminated North Carolina batches identified
12,000 pounds of organic blueberries, produced by Alma Pak International in Georgia's Atlanta, are being recalled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over a potential listeria contamination. According to US media reports, the entire batch was packed and sent to North Carolina, and consumers elsewhere need not worry about purchasing blueberries.
The FDA has classified the recall as the highest risk level after a listeria test conducted at Alma Pak International turned positive, US media reports stated. A similar recall was first initiated on June 9, reports added, while identifying the affected batches as those with Lot numbers 13325 G1060 and 13325 G1096.
What is listeria?
Listeria infection or listeriosis is a bacterial infection that spreads through food items. Senior citizens, people with weak immune systems, and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the bacteria. Pregnant women need to be particularly careful, as listeria infections can pass to their unborn babies without showing any symptoms externally, health websites warn.
The bacteria -- Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) -- can be found in soil, water, sewage, rotting vegetation, or even animals. They thrive in unsanitary food production conditions and can survive and multiply even under refrigeration.
L. monocytogenes is generally transmitted when food is harvested, processed, prepared, packed, transported, or stored in manufacturing or produced in contaminated environments, the FDA website claimed. Pets can also spread the bacteria in the home if they eat food contaminated by the microbe, it added.
Listeria: Symptoms and treatment
Listeria infections are generally classified into two -- the less severe, non-invasive gastrointestinal listeriosis, and the more severe invasive listeriosis. Invasive listeriosis occurs when the infection spreads beyond the intestines, causing a life-threatening situation.
The symptoms of non-invasive listeriosis include persistent fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea for 1 to 3 days.
A patient with invasive listeriosis may suffer a stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions.
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