LISTERIA OUTBREAK- PLEASE READ

[NariaDreaming]

abc7.com/food/granny-smith-gala-apples-recalled-due-to-listeria-monocytogenes/482955/

Granny Smith and Gala apples are being recalled after the presence of Listeria moncytogens were confirmed at an apple processing facility in Shafter, Calif.

Apples should be thrown away if they originate from grower Bidart Bros. of Bakersfield or if the source of origin cannot be determined. Listeriosis can be potentially fatal, including symptoms of fever, severe headache, nausea and a stiff neck, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

[thedish]

Thank you Naria!!

[dreemkin]

Yikes! Thanks for the info!

[thegiraffe]

Good thing I only eat Honeycrisp and Pink Lady.

[abseptember]

I tried to look up more info on this recall and have to say it's not being as well handled as the one with peaches earlier this year where they had pictures of the labels of affected fruit. They are saying this affects mostly carmel apples. They are also saying most of the affected apples were sold in december. I of course just bought galas and they will be going in the garbage bc there's not enough info out there for me to know for sure they are ok. There's also been several deaths reported from this outbreak.

[dronkeygal]

SHIT. I eat one gala apple every morning. Freaking out now because I don't have the bag of course. I guess I'll just throw them all away when I get home to be safe.

[FlutterOfYoshis]

Jan 21, 2015 12:23:44 GMT -5 dronkeygal said:

SHIT. I eat one gala apple every morning. Freaking out now because I don't have the bag of course. I guess I'll just throw them all away when I get home to be safe.

Oh god, I've been having Gala apples with peanut butter just about everyday as a regular snack after finding out I had GD mid-December. I wondered why there were suddenly next to no Galas at Wegmans the last few weeks! Gah!

[misshart00]

Jan 21, 2015 12:42:25 GMT -5 FlutterOfYoshis said:

Jan 21, 2015 12:23:44 GMT -5 dronkeygal said:

SHIT. I eat one gala apple every morning. Freaking out now because I don't have the bag of course. I guess I'll just throw them all away when I get home to be safe.

Oh god, I've been having Gala apples with peanut butter just about everyday as a regular snack after finding out I had GD mid-December. I wondered why there were suddenly next to no Galas at Wegmans the last few weeks! Gah!

What I did with the peaches outbreak was find out the suppliers that were affected. Then I called my grocery store and asked who their supplier is.

[FlutterOfYoshis]

I looked up more--doesn't seem like they were distributed in my area (thank goodness). This article lists affected states: www.inquisitr.com/1751708/gala-apple-recall-find-the-list-of-states-affected-by-granny-smith-and-gala-caramel-apple-recall/

[dronkeygal]

Of course I'm in North Carolina, one of the affected states. UGGHHH

[dronkeygal]

I would know if I had listeria, right? Right?

[dronkeygal]

So I emailed my doctor freaking out and got this response,

"We can discuss at your visit. As long as your arent symptomatic I would not worry . Of course, do not eat anymore.
Thanks"

I think I've eaten one gala apple every day for the past 3 years of my life. No joke. I'm a creature of habit.

[misshart00]

Jan 21, 2015 13:43:42 GMT -5 dronkeygal said:

So I emailed my doctor freaking out and got this response,

"We can discuss at your visit. As long as your arent symptomatic I would not worry . Of course, do not eat anymore.
Thanks"

I think I've eaten one gala apple every day for the past 3 years of my life. No joke. I'm a creature of habit.

I would probably be freaking out too. But at least you're not showing symptoms.

[MrsPavlov]

Well, hell. I just had a huge fruit cup from Chik Fil A that was approximately 549% apples. We'll see how this goes, I suppose.

[dronkeygal]

Jan 21, 2015 13:47:40 GMT -5 misshart00 said:

Jan 21, 2015 13:43:42 GMT -5 dronkeygal said:

So I emailed my doctor freaking out and got this response,

"We can discuss at your visit. As long as your arent symptomatic I would not worry . Of course, do not eat anymore.
Thanks"

I think I've eaten one gala apple every day for the past 3 years of my life. No joke. I'm a creature of habit.

I would probably be freaking out too. But at least you're not showing symptoms.

Yeah, no symptoms to report.  Still worries the crap out of me since symptoms can apparently take a long time to show up.  I'm really hoping they can just do some sort of blood/urine test to rule it out. 

[nbad311]

This is probably a dumb question, but when there are outbreaks like this, is the bacteria simply ON the fruit (a la, very thorough washing COULD make the fruit safe), or is the bactiera INSIDE the fruit (no amount of sanitizing/washing could make the apples safe) ? Anyone know?

[dronkeygal]

Jan 21, 2015 14:17:12 GMT -5 nbad311 said:

This is probably a dumb question, but when there are outbreaks like this, is the bacteria simply ON the fruit (a la, very thorough washing COULD make the fruit safe), or is the bactiera INSIDE the fruit (no amount of sanitizing/washing could make the apples safe) ? Anyone know?

I'm wondering the same thing. I think it's from the soil it's grown in so it would be from the outside of the fruit? I do always wash my fruits in hot water.

[misshart00]

Jan 21, 2015 14:17:12 GMT -5 nbad311 said:

This is probably a dumb question, but when there are outbreaks like this, is the bacteria simply ON the fruit (a la, very thorough washing COULD make the fruit safe), or is the bactiera INSIDE the fruit (no amount of sanitizing/washing could make the apples safe) ? Anyone know?

My doctor said it can depend. With the cantaloupe outbreak a few years ago, it was transferred from the processing machines to the fruit. But I still wouldn't eat it, no matter how much washing.

[Deleted]

The article seems to indicate it is caramel apples that have been the problem. But switching kind of apple to be safe can't hurt. Thankfully there are MANY kinds of apples. I've been loving Jazz apples lately.

ETA: the second article in this thread. The first one doesn't mention that...

[kcrosem]

My doc said that while the range for symptoms to appear that was noted in the peach outbreak is something like 90 days, really symptoms appear much sooner dronkeygal, if that helps at all.

She also told me then that she had recently had a patient with it from fair food and that while it can make you really sick the more severe outcomes are pretty rare. But I am not a doc and others probably have better info.