Listeriosis Celery: Attorneys Provide Information on Listeriosis and the Sangar Celery Recall
Prompted by an outbreak of listeriosis linked to celery, our attorneys produced the video below, which discusses listeriosis. Health officials have linked the outbreak to packaged, cut celery processed by Sangar Fresh Cut Produce of San Antonio, Texas.
On October 20, the Texas Department of State Health Services ordered Sangar Fresh Cut Produce in San Antonio to stop processing food and recall all products shipped from the plant since January. The order was issued after laboratory tests of chopped celery from the plant indicated the presence of Listeria monocytogenes, the bacterium that causes listeriosis. Yesterday, the FDA reported that product and environmental samples it collected from the plant on October 14 and 15 had also tested positive for the outbreak strain of Listeria.
The Sangar celery recall involved primarily cut fresh produce in sealed packages that were distributed to restaurants and institutional entities, such as hospitals and schools.
The listeriosis celery outbreak involves 10 listeriosis cases, including at least 4 deaths, reported to the department over an eight-month period. The illnesses occurred in Bexar, Travis and Hidalgo counties.
