An ‘extensive outbreak’ of a deadly bacteria has killed one person in Ireland.
There are nine confirmed cases of listeria as of yesterday, linked to a food recall affecting over 141 ready-to-heat meals.
The ‘voluntary precautionary recall’ linked to the outbreak comes from one food manufacturer, Ballymaguire Foods,who provide for Tesco, Aldi, and others across Ireland.
A range of chicken curries, lasagnes, bolognaises, pasta bakes, cottage pies, and chow mein dishes are all affected by the recall.
The full list of recalled products can be viewed here.
Consumers have been warned the ready meals may be contaminated with the bacterium listeria monocytogenes.
Listeriosis is an infection caused by the listeria monocytogenes, usually from eating contaminated food.
Symptoms of listeria
Listeria monocytogenes infection, or listeriosis, can present as mild flu-like symptoms or gastrointestinal symptoms.
These include vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea. Severe infections can cause serious complications in rare cases.
Pregnant women, babies, the elderly and people with weakened immune symptoms are more vulnerable to infections.
It takes on average three weeks for symptoms to appear, but that can range from three to 70 days.
The country’s Food Safety Authority is investigating the outbreak.
The Health Service Executive’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre is also looking into the listeriosis death and is not releasing any more details about the patient.
Ballymaguire Foods said in a statement they are recalling all the products produced at one of their facilities ‘following the identification of listeria bacteria as part of a quality control check’.
The company ‘sincerely apologised’ to customers and said they have suspended operations at the affected facility.
They added: ‘Incidents of this nature are extremely rare for us. We are treating it with the utmost seriousness and are working closely with all parties to manage the situation swiftly and responsibly.’
Ready-meals which could be at risk include Tesco’s Meals Made Easy, Irish Classics and Finest products.
Tesco confirmed that the recall also impacts a small number of dishes in Northern Ireland.
They added: ‘We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused and will issue a full refund to customers who have purchased these products when they return them to their local store.’
Aldi’s Specially Selected and Inspired Cuisine ranges are also being recalled, alongside a host of other products associated with Irish supermarket brands.
Retailers have been instructed to take these implicated ready meals off the shelf, and display recall notices at the point of sale.
The Food Safety Authority has also advised caterers not to use these products.
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