NJ Firm Recalls Sausage for Possible Listeria Contamination

WASHINGTON, July 30, 1999--Loeffler’s Gourmet, Inc., a Trenton, N.J., processing firm is voluntarily recalling approximately 200 pounds of sausage that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The product subject to recall is "Loeffler’s Roasting Sausage," packaged in five-pound packages. The packages do not have any identifying codes.

The product was produced on July 19, and was distributed only in the Trenton area from the Loeffler’s Gourmet, Inc., retail outlet located at 482 Whitehead Road.

"Because of the potential of foodborne illness, we urge consumers who have purchased the suspect product not to eat it and to return it to the point of purchase," said Thomas J. Billy, administrator of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

FSIS discovered the problem through its routine monitoring program for Listeria monocytogenes.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease. Healthy people rarely contract listeriosis. 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 weak immune systems--infants, the frail or elderly, and persons with chronic disease, with HIV infection, or taking chemotherapy.

Consumers with questions about food safety may phone the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-800-535-4555. The hotline is staffed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday, and recorded information is available 24 hours a day.

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