Nationwide Wal-Mart Recall of Meat Products and Sandwiches

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a major recall of certain food products containing roast beef and ham, which were distributed through the Wal-Mart chain and are suspected to be contaminated with harmful bacteria. Although this bacterium can cause a potentially fatal disease in humans, no cases of illnesses have been attributed to this suspected contamination of meat products.

This recall of meat product products, issued by Zemco Industries of Buffalo, New York, involves almost 200 tons of meat products, and follows another recent nationwide recall of food products, where over a half a billion eggs were recalled due to suspected salmonella contamination.

The bacteria with which these meat products are said to be contaminated with is known as Listeria Monocytogenes, and this recall was announced following some retail samples containing meat originating from Zemco Industries being found to contain this bacteria by inspectors in Georgia.

The following information was released by the USDA as a part of this recall announcement: “Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease. Healthy people rarely contract listeriosis. However, listeriosis can cause nausea, high fever, neck stiffness and severe headaches. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy.”

The recall involves products carrying the labels “Marketside Grab” and “Go Sandwiches” and apply to products with dates of manufacture ranging from June 18 to July 2, and expiry dates ranging from August 20 to September 10. Wal-Mart has issued the following statement following the recall announcement: “We encourage customers who recently purchased this item to return it for a full refund.”