If anyone isn’t angry yet, you should be because I know I am. I have reported on food recalls for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination too many times recently.
Let’s Do Lunch, in their recall notice decided to put a positive spin on the announcement by saying, “due to school summer breaks, any foods remaining in frozen storage can swiftly be returned to the company.” But in the meantime, who knows how many children are now at risk from developing a case of Listeriosis in the next few weeks?
While no illnesses have been reported yet, it can take up to 70 days for symptoms of Listeria monocytogenes infections to develop. Listeriosis can become severe and life-threatening. The CDC estimates that approximately 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths due to listeriosis occur annually in the United States.
Sorry, but Food Safety News is reporting the company did not indicate when the 45 products — including breakfast sandwiches and wraps, burgers, chicken patties, hot dogs and deli-style sandwiches — were distributed or whether any of them had been served to students. Additionally, with schools closed across the country for summer vacation, any leftover products are being stored in freezers.
School foodservice distributors in 29 states received the products from Integrated Food Service (IFS). A list of the specific recalled products is available on the IFS website, as well as a partial list of school districts that received the products. The list will be updated daily as additional information becomes available, according to the recall notice.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that they found Listeria “on multiple food contact surfaces where the products were produced on several different occasions” during routine FDA environmental sampling. So why hasn’t this company either been shut down, or at least cleaned up to be compliant with FDA regulations? When I read that positive test results for a pathogen were “found on multiple occasions,” that sticks in my mind.
While my child in now an adult, my grandchildren are still in school, and I am really disturbed that their schools might be serving food contaminated with a deadly pathogen, and so should every parent and grandparent of school age children. And yes, schools in Virginia are on the list.
The best way to voice disapproval over what is happening with food safety in this country is to use social media to get the word out. Food manufacturers and producers need to be held accountable for maintaining food safety rules and requirements in their facilities.
