You Will Want To ‘L’Eggo Your Eggo’ After Listeria Recall

Consumers in 25 states will want to “L’Eggo their Eggos” after the Michigan-based Kellogg Co.recalled 10,000 cases of its Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat Waffles because of possible listeria contamination.

Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems. Symptoms can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions in addition to fever and muscle aches. Pregnant women typically experience fever and other nonspecific symptoms, such as fatigue and aches. However, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn.

The company claimed it had received no reports of illnesses at the time of their late-September recall. The recalled frozen waffles are available in 10-count packs with “Used by” dates of Nov. 21, 2017 and Nov. 22, 2017.

The recalled frozen waffles were distributed to customers and retailers in 25 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

It is not the first such recall for Kellogg’s Eggo brand. In 2009, the FDA found listeria at an Atlanta plant that made Eggo Buttermilk Waffles. In January 2010, the FDA sent the company a letter criticizing its safety standards.

The CDC estimates that about 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths each year in the U.S. are due to listeriosis. Overall, the CDC estimates roughly one in six Americans — or 48 million people — are sickened each year by foodborne illnesses including listeria, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die.

Earlier this year, the first lawsuit was filed in federal court related to another listeria outbreak involving Dole Food Co. At least 18 people in the United States and 11 in Canada were sickened by packaged salads from a production facility in Ohio. The victims range in age from 3 to 83 years old. All had to be hospitalized. At least one person in the U.S. and three in Canada died as a result of the outbreak.

Last January the company recalled its salads after “routine government sampling” found listeria monocytogenes in one of the packages from the plant. The company shut down the plant during the investigation and so it could be sanitized.

And as of late last month, nearly 300 people had been diagnosed with hepatitis A after eating imported scallops sold at a Sam’s Club and served at seafood restaurants in Hawaii. The scallops also were distributed in California and Nevada.

If you have been sickened or a loved one has died as a result of eating tainted food,you may be entitled to compensation. Call the offices of trial attorneys Charles Gilman and Briggs Bedigian at 1-800-529-6162 or contact them online. The firm handles cases in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.