200-Plus Schools Received Food Likely Contaminated With Listeria Bacteria: FSIS

Students prepare to eat their lunches at a school in the Los Angeles Unified School District in Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Hundreds of schools across the United States received food products that could potentially be contaminated by pathogens, according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

On Oct. 9, Oklahoma-based BrucePac pulled out nearly 10 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat (RTE) and poultry citing contamination risk by the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. The recall was later expanded to include an additional 1.7 million pounds of products, taking the total withdrawn items to almost 12 million pounds.

On Thursday, the FSIS released a list of schools which had bought food products that included the recalled items. “The products that went to these schools were not part of USDA’s National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs; schools also purchase food directly from other vendors,” FSIS said in an Oct. 17 update.

More than 200 schools across 17 U.S. states received BrucePac’s RTE and Poultry products. The following are the affected states, and the number of schools:

• Pennsylvania—91 schools
• New Jersey—35 schools
• New York—21 schools
• Washington D.C.—13 schools
• Florida—Nine schools
• Michigan—Nine schools
• Ohio—Seven schools
• Kentucky—Four schools
• Tennessee—Three schools
• Illinois—Two schools
• Indiana—Two schools
• West Virginia—Two schools
• Iowa, Georgia, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Delaware—One school each.

Some of the New York schools include the Brooklyn Avenue School, New Hyde Park Road School, Robert W. Carbonaro Elementary School, and Blessed Sacrament School.

In Washington D.C., there were Bridges Public Charter School, District of Columbia International School, Hope Community Charter School, and Richard Wright Public Charter School, while Florida schools include Astatula Christian School, Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School, St. Andrew Catholic School, and Children’s Day Academy Preschool.

The FSIS website has published a full list of affected schools. The agency “will continue to update this and the retail product list as it receives more information,” FSIS said.

The 348-page long retail product list details all brands and products which carried BrucePac’s recalled items. Some of the affected brands include Amazon Fresh, 7Eleven, H-E-B, Home Chef, RaceTrac, Trader Joe’s, Central Eats, Amazon Kitchen, Fresh Express, Kroger, and Boston Market.

Listeria infection, or listeriosis, can be a serious health issue. “Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms,” FSIS states.

“An invasive infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn. In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems.”

No confirmed reports of adverse reactions from the consumption of BrucePac’s products were reported as of Oct. 9.

Listeria Dangers

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), listeria spreads to and from food items. When a person eats foods contaminated with the bacteria, the germs spread and trigger an infection.

“Places that Listeria can spread include food processing facilities. After getting into a food processing facility, Listeria can be difficult to fully remove. In the facility, Listeria can spread to food that touches contaminated surfaces or equipment,” the CDC states.

“The germs even can grow in food kept in the refrigerator,” it noted. “The good news is that Listeria are easily killed by heating food to a high enough temperature.”

Annually, around 1,600 Americans are infected with listeria and 260 people die from the infection, according to CDC estimates. Listeria is the third leading cause of death in the country from foodborne illnesses.

Listeria infection is confirmed when a lab test grows the bacteria from the biological sample of an ill individual.

Among people with invasive illnesses, antibiotics are used. People who suffer from intestinal illnesses typically recover without taking such medications. In this group, antibiotics are only used for those who are at risk of becoming very ill or are already very ill.

The CDC is currently investigating a listeria outbreak related to meats sliced at delis. The agency began investigating the issue in July. So far, there have been 59 cases of infections, 10 deaths, and 59 hospitalizations across 19 states.

According to the most recent update, “Illness reports have started to decrease.” The agency advised people to “not eat recalled deli meats. Some of the products have sell by dates into October 2024.”

Boar’s Head Ready-to-Eat liverwurst and deli products were linked to the outbreak and have been recalled.