Supermarkets selling a range of Irish blended cheeses have issued an urgent recall over fears batches could be contaminated with the potentially killer bacteria listeria.
Shoppers who bought Horgans Irish Smoked Cheddar, Claddagh Bo Irish cheese and many variants of Old Irish cheddar including one infused with Murphy’s Stout with expiry dates in May, are being urged to return the JOD Food Products to the point of purchase.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has warned that symptoms caused by listeria can be similar to flu and include a high temperature, muscle aches, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea.
However, in rare cases, the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications, such as meningitis.
Although the foods have been recalled, some may still be in consumers' refrigerators or freezers. The products should be discarded or returned to the place of purchase.
Refrigerators, containers and other surfaces that may have touched the foods should also be cleaned and sanitised.
Listeria poisoning is tricky, because symptoms can start quickly, within a few hours or days after eating contaminated food. But they also can take weeks or up to three months to show up.
Those most vulnerable to getting sick include the very young, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria was first identified in 1911 but named in 1940 to “honour” British surgeon Joseph Lister, who recognised the importance of sterilising equipment before attempting invasive operations.
It enters the human body after contaminated food is eaten or handled or contaminated surfaces are touched.
The institution’s website said: “After a person ingests Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria grow quickly in the liver and then move into the bloodstream and can invade many places in the body, including the brain, membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, the gastrointestinal tract and the bloodstream.”
In November, a baby died and at least 10 other people fell ill in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning linked to meat supplied from Yu Shang Food, Inc., of Spartanburg, South Carolina.
