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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.