Hard-boiled eggs from Almark Foods’ Gainesville plant are being recalled due to link to listeria outbreak

Almark Foods is recalling bulk, fresh hard-boiled eggs that were produced by its plant in Gainesville, Georgia, due to a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to the eggs, the company announced Friday.

Seven people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported in five states – Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Four were hospitalized, with one death occurring in Texas.

The illnesses occurred between April 2017 and Nov. 12, 2019.

The eggs were packaged in 20-, 23-, and 25-pound plastic pails for use nationwide by food service operators. The CDC is warning against selling, serving, or using these eggs to make other food products, because consumers won’t be able to tell if the products they’ve purchased from stores contain these eggs.

The company has stopped production of the eggs at its Gainesville plant to further investigate the issue.

The recall doesn’t include Almark Foods hard-boiled eggs sold directly to consumersexternal icon, eggs produced by Almark’s other plants, or any other brands of hard-boiled eggs or products made with hard-boiled eggs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The the recalled eggs were distributed to food service companies in Georgia, California, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Iowa, Missouri, Alabama, Florida, and Arizona.

Until more is known, the CDC advises that people at higher risk for Listeria infection throw away any store-bought hard-boiled eggs or products containing hard-boiled eggs, such as egg salad. Drawers or shelves in refrigerators and freezers where the products were stored should be wash and sanitize. This advice doesn’t include eggs hard-boiled at home or homemade products made with those eggs, such as egg salad or deviled eggs.

If you’re in the high-risk group and you buy products with hard-boiled eggs at a store or order or eat items with hard-boiled eggs at a restaurant:

• Confirm with the store or restaurant that they don’t use hard-boiled eggs produced by Almark Foods.
• Don’t buy or eat the eggs if they don’t know where their hard-boiled eggs are from.

People at higher risk for Listeria infection are people on dialysis, people with cancer, pregnant women, and adults 65 and older.

Symptoms of Listeria Infection are:

• Pregnant women: They usually experience only fever and other flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and muscle aches. However, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
• People other than pregnant women: Symptoms can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions in addition to fever and muscle aches.

People with invasive listeriosis usually report symptoms starting one to four weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria; some people have reported symptoms starting as late as 70 days after exposure or as early as the same day of exposure.

Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics.

The investigation into the hard-boiled eggs contamination linked to the Almark Foods’ Gainesville plant is ongoing to determine the source of contamination and if additional products are linked to illness, the CDC said.