Multiple Brands of Jelly Pork Recalled Due to Listeria Contamination Concerns

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has recalled several ham in jelly products due to possible listeria contamination. CIFA/Handout photo

The recall of various brands of ham in jelly products has been expanded by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) due to possible listeria monocytogenes contamination.

CFIA previously said the recalled ham in jelly (jelly pork) products were distributed in Ontario and sold at various retailers in Hamilton, Mississauga, Whitby, Oshawa, Kitchener, Napanee, Welland, and King City. That list has since been expanded to include products sold in Toronto, Vaughan, and Mississauga.

Companies involved in the recall include Wagener’s Meat Products, Coppa’s Fresh Market (King City), Village Bake Shop (Whitby), Glogowski Euro Food, Staropolskie Delikatesy, Starsky Fine Foods (Hamilton, Mississauga), Nika Deli (Welland Farmer’s Market), Deli Fritz, 302 Variety, Cataldi Fine Foods, and Lady York Foods.

CFIA said the listed companies are responsible for some, but not all of the products being recalled.

“The recalled products may have been sold by various retailers, either clerk-served, sliced, chunked or in smaller packages, with or without a label that may not bear the same brand, product name or best before date,” the agency said in its Oct. 25 advisory.

The agency is advising anyone who purchased the products to throw them out or return them to the store where they were purchased.

CFIA said its investigation into a listeria outbreak connected to recalled Wagener’s brand beef jelly tongue products earlier this month prompted last week’s jelly pork product recall.

The agency reported that although no illnesses have been connected to the ham in jelly products, there have been cases of illness related to the consumption of beef tongue products.

The latest listeria-linked recall comes a week after hundreds of frozen waffle products sold across Canada and the United States were recalled due to potential listeria contamination and two weeks after the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) wrapped up its investigation into a deadly listeria outbreak linked to several Silk and Great Value plant-based milks.

What is Listeriosis?

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne bacterial illness that causes listeriosis, a bacterial infection.

“Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick,” CFIA said.

The illness can cause nausea, vomiting, fever, muscle aches, headache, diarrhea, and neck stiffness. It can also result in more serious complications such as meningitis and sepsis (blood poisoning).

Although healthy individuals can fall ill from a listeria infection, the disease poses a more serious risk for individuals aged 60 and older, newborns, and unborn babies, Health Canada said.

Symptoms of severe listeriosis can appear up to 70 days after exposure to the bacteria.

Invasive listeriosis has been a nationally notifiable disease in all provinces and territories since 2007, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. Approximately 134 cases of invasive listeriosis have been reported nationwide annually in recent years.