Listeria monocytogenes

Posted by Andrew Wadge on March 16th 2007 in Science, safety and health

The Agency has just issued precautionary advice to susceptible groups who may have eaten sandwiches containing Listeria monocytogenes.

This is a relatively rare form of food poisoning which rarely affects healthy people and is much less common than infection with salmonella or campylobacter. 

There were 215 cases of listeria in the UK in 2005 and the provisional numbers for 2006 were 208 cases.

Although infections with listeria are much rarer than salmonella and campylobacter, it is a potentially life-threatening disease.

Pregnant women, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are most at risk.  What starts as mild flu-like symptoms for the mother can cause miscarriage or be fatal to the unborn child. 

We are advising anyone in the susceptible groups who may have eaten sandwiches from the affected factory between mid-February and mid-March to be aware of the symptoms and, if over the next 2-3 months you become ill with fever, muscle aches and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea to contact your GP.

Listeria can be treated by antibiotics which is why we are issuing this advice.

Although listeria is present in the environment, most infections occur through consumption of food contaminated with the listeria bacteria. 

The types of food that are most susceptible are soft mould-ripened cheeses.

Pregnant women should continue to avoid soft cheeses and pates because it is not possible to entirely eliminate listeria from these types of food.

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listeria in sandwiches

Posted by Aileen O'Brien (not verified) on 29/03/2007 - 19:54

I'm really interested in the advice given to pregnant women and the evidence base. It hasn't been reported anywhere about what was in the contaminated sandwiches - do you know?

Incubation periods

Posted by Andrew Wadge on 20/03/2007 - 17:15

Thanks for your feedback. As a precautionary measure when the story first broke we uploaded lists that covered all potential customers of the company during the period in question. These lists were refined as new information came to light confirming which customers did actually recieve the sandwiches. As for the incubation period, it is two to three months. The HPA website says the same. The average incubation period is 30 days.

Listeria

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on 19/03/2007 - 21:16

Where have the suspect sandwiches been sold?

Listeria incubation period

Posted by Kerry F (not verified) on 19/03/2007 - 16:08

I thought it was a mistake when I read that consumers are advised to watch out for symptoms of Listeria 2 or 3 MONTHS after consumption. Surely that should read 2 to 3 weeks, I thought. I did food micro training twenty years ago, clearly I am out of date.