Ham, pepperoni recall over listeria concerns expands to over 2.3M pounds
Alexander & Hornung originally recalled over 230,000 pounds of meat products
Federal health officials announced that a recall surrounding cooked ham and pepperoni now includes over 2.3 million pounds of product that may be contaminated with harmful bacteria.
The original recall notice posted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on Dec. 5 only included 234,391 pounds of product that "may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes."
Alexander & Hornung, a business unit of Perdue Premium Meat Company, Inc., originally issued the recall after being notified by health officials that "product sampling reported positive listeria monocytogenes results," according to the FSIS.
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The FSIS highlighted the additional products in the recall list. All the affected products were produced on various dates and shipped to retail locations nationwide.
"When available," the FSIS will provide a retail distribution list online, according to Alexander & Hornung.
"We are committed to producing the highest quality product, therefore, out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to recall a limited amount of further processed items," Gary Malenke, senior vice president of plant operations for Alexander & Hornung, told FOX Business.
Alexander & Hornung boneless ham (U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS))
The affected products can be identified by the establishment number "EST. M10125" inside the USDA mark of inspection.
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To date, there haven't been any reports of adverse reactions related to the recalled products.
However, "food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns," according to the FSIS.
Some symptoms of listeriosis can include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions which can be followed by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, the FSIS said.
However, "serious and sometimes fatal infections in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems." the FSIS added.
If consumers are concerned about an injury or illness, the FSIS says to contact a health care provider.