Articles Posted in Food-Borne Illnesses

Listeria contamination alert: Starbucks customers in Georgia, Florida and Alabama need to be advised that chicken wraps and other chicken products produced by Flying Food Group, LLC, located in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and sold during July 2011 could have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria known to cause food poisoning. On July 26, 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that the initial recall (announced July 19, 2011) involving 204 pounds of chicken wraps and other ready-to-eat chicken products was being significantly expanded to include an additional 6,901 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken, turkey, beef and pork products produced by Fly Foods Group between July 13 and July 24, 2011, and distributed in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. A list of the specific products being recalled can be found in the FSIS press release.

Any Florida, Alabama or Georgia customer of Starbucks who has consumed one of the recalled products is at risk for Listeria food poisoning. Listeria infection can result in Listeriosis, a foodborne illness with potentially serious and life threatening health consequences. Symptoms of Listeria food poisoning (i.e., muscle aches, fever, nausea, diarrhea, stiff neck, loss of balance) may not appear for several days or several weeks because Listeria pathogens have a relatively long incubation period (3-70 days). Pregnant women are most at risk because they are 20 times more likely to suffer Listeriosis than other healthy adults. Any customer who suspects that they are suffering Listeria food poisoning should seek medical care as soon as possible.

Daniel Ragland is a food poisoning attorney and available to serve consumers throughout the Southeast including Georgia, Florida and Alabama. He has expertise in the fields of foodborne illness and food safety. Mr. Ragland is a founding partner of the law firm Ragland Law Firm, LLP located in Atlanta, Georgia. Any person with concerns about these recalled contaminated food products may contact Mr. Ragland by email or phone (770) 407-7300.

Customers of Starbucks coffee shops in Georgia and Alabama may have purchased Listeria contaminated chicken products between July 13 and July 15, 2011. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a press release announcing that 204 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken wraps and chicken “bistro” boxes were being recalled because of possible contamination with Listeria monocytogens, a bacterial pathogen known to cause food poisoning and a foodborne illness known as Listeriosis. The recalled chicken products were produced on July 13, 2011 by Flying Food Group, LLC, a food company based in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Products being recalled are as follows:

• 8.4 ounce packages of “Starbucks Chipolte Chicken Wraps Bistro Box”
• 6.3 ounce packages of “Starbucks Chicken & Hummus Bistro Box”

Starbucks has issued its own press release acknowledging that it received and may have sold some of the Listeria tainted chicken products being recalled to customers in Georgia and Alabama between July 13 and July 15, 2011.

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On November 8, 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the recall of over 28,000 pounds of Zeigler hot dog products due to concerns over possible Listeria contamination. Click and read the full USDA press release. The potentially unsafe hot dogs were produced by the R.L. Zeigler Company in Selma, Alabama on or around September 22, 2008, and shipped to food service institutions and retail establishments in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Consumers should be warned not to eat or use any of the Zeigler meat products being recalled. Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause Listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease. Healthy people rarely contract Listeriosis. However, Listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy. Consumers who purchased or have any of the recalled product are urged to contact Zeigler at (800) 326-6328 or (800) 392-6328.

The potential Listeria contamination of Zeigler wiener products was discovered last week by food scientists with the Georgia Department of Agriculture during routine microbiological testing of product samples. Georgia inspectors detected Listeria monocytogenes in a 12-ounce package of Zeigler Chicken and Pork Wieners marked CI USE BY NOV 26 08. The tested package was also labeled with plant number P-9156S inside the USDA mark of inspection. After discovering the Listeria monocytogene contamination on November 7th, Georgia officials immediately warned the USDA, and began to remove Zeigler hot dog products with certain code numbers from store shelves in Georgia. A copy of the press release issued by the Georgia Department of Agriculture can be found here.
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