American food manufacturer General Mills Inc. has voluntarily recalled a small batch of its frozen green beans due to listeria contamination.
The announcement made on Friday, Oct. 2, involves the company's Cascadian Farm Cut Green Beans packaged in 16-ounce containers, produced within one day in June and had a "Better If Used By" label of June 29, 2017.
According to the the company, the recall was made as a precautionary measure following the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in one of the product packs.
The latest recall is not a first for the company, as it had also announced the same voluntary measure in Aug. 26, 2015 for the same green beans brand after one package also yielded a positive result after listeria testing. The said batch of recalled products were manufactured for two days in March 2014.
Fortunately, there have been no reports of illnesses or clinical problems noted in both incidents.
Listeriosis is a bacterial infection caused by Listeria monocytogenes. Experts in the food safety industry say that the bacterium is a specifically complicated and strong pathogen that grows when stored in a cool place.
Common signs and symptoms of the disease include fever and muscle pain that may be followed by diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems. In most cases, the bacteria spread outside of the digestive tract.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the disease does not pose serious illnesses in generally healthy people but may be highly risky for particular groups including pregnant women, elderly people, newborns and those with immunocompromised immune systems.
Aside from the usual self-limiting signs and symptoms, listeriosis may cause pregnant women to have a miscarriage, preterm delivery and stillbirth. It may also cause a potentially fatal infection for newborns.
For older adults and those with weak immune systems, meningitis and septicemia may result.
On Sept. 10, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially implemented its first action on preventing foodborne illnesses, placing imported food products under the same standards imposed on domestically manufactured food. Aside from that, FDA also devised a food safety system that is integrated nationally in collaboration with state and local officials.
Photo: Corey Hamon | Flickr
