On Jan. 5, Fieldbrook Foods Corp., Dunkirk, N.Y., issued a voluntary recall of 20 cases of Tops brand of orange cream bars and 320 cases of Meijer Purple Cow brand orange cream bars because the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. On Jan. 9, the company expanded the recall to include all orange cream bars and chocolate coated vanilla ice cream bars that were produced in 2017 on the company’s Hoyer 1 Line at its Dunkirk plant (plant code 362677).
The company issued a clarification on Jan. 11 to indicate the recall also includes 28,751 cases of raspberry cream bars that were included with orange cream bars in ALDI seasonal split-case purchases. The split cases were shipped between March and August 2017. The recall now impacts dozens of retailers selling the products under their own brands.
The potential for contamination was noted after routine testing revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in another production lot that has been fully contained. The recall is out of precaution for consumer health and food safety, the private label manufacturer said. The company noted that it has suspended production and distribution of the product while it cooperates with the FDA to fully investigate the source of the problem.
Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem, Fieldbrook Foods said. Customers who have product affected by this voluntary recall are being told to discard it immediately or return it to their local store for a full refund.