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Food

Meatball Recall: Over 300,000 Pounds of Meat Sent Back Due to Listeria Threat

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Bridgeton, New Jersey-based company Bueno Vita, Inc. is recalling over 300,000 pounds of meatballs due a detected risk of listeria. The invasive food-borne bacterial illness might sound familiar because of the recent cantaloupe outbreak, where nearly 30 people in the U.S. died from contamination, the cause of which was traced back to a packing shed in Colorado.

The CDC describes listeria as "a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes" and "important public health problem in the United States." The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems, with symptoms like ever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal irregularity.

Bueno Vita produces over 200,000 pounds of meatballs and other meat products a day, according to their website. Says CBS:

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Saturday that the recalled products included frozen meatballs, pre-made meat patties and loafs and other frozen meals. The USDA branded the recall as "Class I," saying there is a high health risk that a product may cause serious, adverse health consequences or death."

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