The English Muffin, Egg, Sausage, and Cheddar Cheese sandwich was thought to be contaminated.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – The voluntary recall is taking over the food industry. Yesterday it was moldy applesauce, today pre-packed sandwiches served by the biggest coffee distributor in the country. The Starbucks sandwiches presumably contaminated with listeria were removed from sale and sent back to Progressive Gourmet, the coffee shop’s food supplier.
Roughly 250 Starbucks stores were affected by the recall. All of them were situated in the Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas regions. The product that was thought to be infected with the deadly bacteria is the Egg, Sausage, and Cheddar Cheese served on English Muffin sandwich.
According to an FDA official statement, as soon as the notice was out, the coffee giant immediately removed all the products from sale. The affected pre-packed meals only reached the 250 stores in question.
It seems that Progressive Gourmet initiated the recall after a routine inspection revealed some traced of listeria on a contact surface. The affected lot is the one with a Best before date of August 7th, 2016. The sandwiches are packed in clear plastic foil. The food supplier is working with the FDA on the voluntary recall.
Starbucks also made an official statement saying that all of the stores were checked, and all of the affected products were sent back to the suppliers. It seems that the coffee shop tested the recalled food, and it turned out negative for listeria presence. But better safe than sorry.
In the meantime, the latest report from the CDC shows that the United States see around 260 Listeria-related deaths every year. And the bacteria can trigger an astonishing amount of 1600 different diseases.
Listeriosis, or listeria contamination, is relatively easy to recognize. Patients usually show symptoms like fever, muscle aches, diarrhea and other such gastrointestinal inconveniences. The main problem with listeria is that once it gets inside the body, it almost always spreads from the intestines to the blood stream and other body parts.
Usually, the most affected individuals are children, people with a compromised immune system and the elderly. Cases of infection in other, healthy-considered individuals are somewhat rare.
Furthermore, Listeria is a sneaky bacteria. It sometimes starts to show symptoms after two months. So when a person falls ill, the source of infection may have already reached hundreds of other individuals.
The good news is that the Starbucks sandwiches presumably contaminated with listeria have been sent back to the manufacturer. But this is not the first time this year when Starbucks’ occupied the headlines. Earlier last month a study showed that the coffee shop’s beverages are filled with crazy amounts of sugar.
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