Listeria suspected source of two separate outbreaks

Whole Foods Market is recalling salmon in the US and Sprouters Northwest in the US and Lifeforce Foods brand in Canada are withdrawing sprouts, but as yet, no illnesses have been reported.

Salmon recall expanded​

Whole Foods Market is recalling an additional lot code of Whole Catch Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon (4 ounce), cold smoked and sliced, sold in stores in 18 states, because it may contain Listeria Monocytogenes.

The latest recall is for lot code 7425A2297A which was were soldin Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The first lot code (7425A2298B) was recalled on 25 January and was sold in Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, and Utah.

Both lot codes of the recalled salmon were sold in black-and-gold, flat, rectangular vacuum-sealed packages. The lot codes are ink-jet printed on the back of the package, on the upper left side.

No illnesses have been reported related to these lot codes but a sample of the product tested positive for listeria.

Sprout link​

Sprouters Northwest, Washington is recalling 1953 pounds of alfalfa, clover, brocco sandwich sprouts, and spicy sprouts due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

Products were distributed from 10 January to 18 January in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and British Columbia, Canada through retail stores and food service distribution chain.

The affected products (SEE HERE​) are sold under the Sprouters Northwest brand and are packaged in plastic clamshell containers and plastic 1lb bags.

The problem was identified through a surveillance sampling and two were collected at retail locations and found to be positive for Listeria monocytogenes by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).

Canada affected ​

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has also issued a recall of sprouts and reported no illnesses associated with the products (SEE HERE).

The LifeForce Foods brand sprouts, product of USA, packaged in plastic clamshell containers of 85 grams were recalled this week and were distributed through Canada Safeway stores in British Columbia

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report earlier this week finding listeria caused the highest proportion of people hospitalized (82%) in food outbreaks and nine out of 23 deaths were associated to Listeria Monocytogenes during the 2009-2010 period.

Meanwhile, an outbreak of listeria in Australia linked to cheese​ from the Jindi Cheese Company has sickened 21 and killed two people across the country.