By Emmet Lindner
Nearly 700 frozen waffle products, some of them sold under the brands of major retailers such as Kroger, Target and Walmart, were recalled late last week over concerns of potential contamination with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, according to their manufacturer.
The manufacturer, TreeHouse Foods, issued a voluntary recall and said in a statement that the “issue was discovered through routine testing at the manufacturing facility.”
There have been no confirmed reports of illness related to the recalled products, TreeHouse said.
TreeHouse, which operates more than two dozen production facilities in the United States and Canada, said the recall affected products distributed in both countries and in various formats.
Frozen waffle brands affected by the recall included several of Kroger’s Simple Truth protein waffles, Target’s Good & Gather Homestyle and Buttermilk flavors, and Walmart’s Great Value Homestyle and Blueberry waffles.
Infections from listeria, which are bacteria that can contaminate foods, are rare but can cause potentially serious illnesses.
Typical symptoms include fever and headaches. Young children, older adults and pregnant women are at the greatest risk for more serious and potentially life-threatening side effects.
Each year in the United States, an estimated 1,600 people are infected with listeria, and about 260 people die from those infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We see it most severely in people with immune systems that are compromised in some way, and that can be the very young, the very old,” Dr. Stuart C. Ray, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, said Saturday.
Symptoms “can be as simple as a gastroenteritis, but it can be as severe as a meningitis,” he added.
If someone is infected with listeria bacteria, the incubation period can last several days and sometimes several weeks. An infection might not be immediately apparent.
Several companies in the deli industry this year have issued recalls related to listeria outbreaks.
Deli meat brand Boar’s Head faced scrutiny in recent months after one of its facilities in Virginia was found to contain black mold, dead flies and water dripping over meat. Foods distributed from that facility and containing listeria were linked to nine deaths.
And BrucePac, another meat provider, this month recalled more than 10 million pounds of meats and poultry products because of listeria.
Food plants and facilities are common epicenters of listeria outbreaks because of the bacteria’s ability to survive cold climates, Ray said.
“It survives on damp surfaces, including in factories and food preparation facilities,” he said. “It can be shared by animals, including livestock, that don’t appear sick. It can creep into our food chain in ways that might not be obvious.”
TreeHouse said customers can check the lot code on their waffle products to see if they are part of the recall. Consumers should dispose of any products they have in their freezers, or return them to the place of purchase for credit.
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