On December 20th, Almark Foods recalled all hard-boiled and peeled eggs produced at its facility in Gainesville, Georgia, due to Listeria contamination. The products were packaged in white plastic pails with white plastic lids and sold under several different brand names at Walmart and Trader Joes stores around the country.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the egg products were sold under brand names including Almark Foods, Egggs Select, Nic’s Peeled Pearls, Rainbow Farms and Sutherland’s Food Service, Inc. While the investigation is underway, the CDC is cautioning the public to throw all store-bought hard-boiled eggs or products containing hard-boiled eggs, such as egg salad. The CDC also recommends cleaning refrigerators that stored such egg products, and refraining from ordering meals containing hard-boiled eggs at restaurants.
So far, seven infections of the strain of Listeria monocytogenes associated with the outbreak have been reported in five different states, resulting in four hospitalizations and one death. The affected products have a “Best if Used By” date that begins with a G.
Almark Foods has halted production, and the company’s president, Don Stoner, told CNN, “We are working diligently in cooperation with the FDA to restore operations at our Gainesville plant so that we can continue providing safe, healthy, and affordable eggs to the market from that facility. We apologize for this extremely rare safety lapse and we’re making every effort to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.”
Refer to the CDC’s Food Safety Alert for more information regarding the recall.