More frozen vegetables have been recalled over fears of possible listeria contamination. Metcash has recalled Black & Gold’s 1kg mixed vegetables from IGA, Campbells and independent grocers across NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
The NSW Food Authority is advising consumers not to eat the product and to return it to the place of purchase for a refund.
Listeria is a potentially deadly bacterium that can be found in raw foods. Eating food containing listeria will not make most people sick but in some people it can cause listeriosis.
Listeriosis is most likely to affect pregnant women and their unborn babies, the elderly and people with weaker immune systems. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea and diarrhoea. Although listeriosis is rare, it has a high death rate.
Six people died in February and March following a national outbreak of listeria. In July, Victorian health authorities linked a February death to a European strain. Shortly after, supermarkets across the country began pulling frozen vegetables from their shelves over fears of contamination. Listeria bacteria were discovered in frozen spinach and green bean samples from a Hungarian plant, and frozen vegetable products were also pulled from British supermarkets about the same time.
