What does listeria look like on food

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Listeria high-risk foods
Listeria symptoms range from mild to severe
Listeria is dangerous for pregnant women
Other people who are at high risk of listeria
Safe foods to avoid listeria
Hints for handling and preparing food
Store food with care
Food temperatures
Where to get help

Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Linked to Blue Bell Creameries Products (Final Update)

This outbreak investigation is over. However, people could continue to get sick because recalled products may still be in people’s freezers and consumers unaware of the recalls could eat them. Institutions should not serve and retailers should not sell recalled products. Read the Advice to Consumers, Institutions, and Retailers.

Listeriosis is a life-threatening infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium (germ) Listeria monocytogenes. The disease primarily affects pregnant women and their newborns, older adults, and people with immune systems weakened by cancer, cancer treatments, or other serious conditions (like diabetes, kidney failure, liver disease, and HIV). Rarely, people without these risk factors are affected.

A person with listeriosis usually has fever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Almost everyone who is diagnosed with listeriosis has invasive infection, meaning the bacteria spread from their intestines to the blood, causing bloodstream infection, or to the central nervous system, causing meningitis. Although people can sometimes develop listeriosis up to 2 months after eating contaminated food, symptoms usually start within several days. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics.

The symptoms vary with the infected person:

Higher-risk people other than pregnant women: Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions.
Pregnant women: Pregnant women typically experience only fever, and other non-specific symptoms like chills and headache. However, infection during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
Healthy people. Healthy people rarely develop invasive listeriosis. However, people exposed to a very large dose of Listeria bacteria can develop a non-invasive illness (meaning the bacteria do not spread into their bloodstream or other sites) with diarrhea and fever.

If a person has eaten food contaminated with Listeria and does not have any symptoms, most experts believe that no tests or treatment are needed, even for people at higher risk for listeriosis.

Listeria is the third leading cause of death from food poisoning in the U.S.

Listeria monocytogenes is scientific for the bacteria listeria which can cause the foodborne illness, listeriosis. Listeria can be found in oil, water and plants, but you cannot see, smell or taste it. Different than other bacteria, listeria can grow in the refrigerator and in warm food. It’s commonly linked to raw meat, unpasteurized dairy products and ready-to-eat food, such as deli meat, hot dogs and soft cheeses.

Fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are all symptoms of listeriosis. Other symptoms may include headache, stiff neck, confusion and loss of balance. Meningitis, an infection of the brain and spinal cord, and septicemia, bacteria in the bloodstream, are the more serious symptoms that can result from listeriosis.

The potential dangers of foods contaminated from the listeria bacteria is increasing. Symptoms of foodborne illness vary from person to person. Pregnant women, people over 65 and those with compromised immune systems are more likely to be negatively affected by this harmful bacteria.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pregnant women are ten times more likely to get listeriosis. Listeria can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature birth and even death in newborns whose mothers have contracted the illness.

The CDC reports that people 65 years of age and older are four times more likely to get this foodborne illness than the general public and they suffer with more than half of all the reported listeria infections. Reasons for this include a weakened immune system and they have reduced stomach acid that is important in killing bad bacteria.

To prevent the possibility of listeriosis Michigan State University Extension offers these five tips to pregnant women, people over 65 and those with compromised immune systems:

Thoroughly heat ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs and deli meat before eating.
Purchase pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is a process that kills harmful bacteria by heating milk to a specific temperature for a set period of time.
Avoid soft cheeses such as Brie and feta.
Throw out any product that has passed its use-by or expiration date
Prevent cross-contamination between raw and ready-to eat food

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Listeria infection can be dangerous for pregnant women, the elderly and people whose immune systems are not working properly.
Prevention is best – people at risk of listeria infection should avoid high-risk foods.

Listeria is an illness caused by eating foods contaminated by the bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria infection (also known as listeriosis) is uncommon but it can cause death in at-risk people, such as the elderly and people whose immune systems are not working properly. It can be dangerous to pregnant women and their unborn babies.

Listeria high-risk foods

The following listeria high-risk foods should be avoided:

ready-to-eat seafood – such as smoked fish, mussels and oysters, or raw seafood such as sashimi or sushi
pre-prepared or pre-packaged fruit and vegetable salads – including those available from buffets, salad bars and sandwich bars
drinks made from fresh fruit and vegetables where washing procedures are unknown (excluding pasteurised or canned juices)
deli meats which are eaten without further cooking or heating – such as pate, ham, Strasbourg (Stras) and salami, and cooked and diced chicken (as used in sandwich shops)
any unpasteurised milk or foods made from unpasteurised milk
soft-serve ice-creams
soft cheeses – such as brie, camembert, ricotta and feta (these are safe if cooked and served hot)
ready-to-eat foods – including leftover meats, which have been refrigerated for more than one day
dips and salad dressings in which vegetables may have been dipped
raw vegetable garnishes.

Listeria symptoms range from mild to severe

Early symptoms of listeria include:

fever
headache
tiredness
aches and pain.

These can lead to more serious problems, including:

meningitis (brain infection)
septicaemia (blood poisoning).

Listeria is dangerous for pregnant women

Listeria is dangerous for pregnant women. Even a mild listeria infection can cause:

miscarriage
stillbirth
premature birth
a baby who is very ill when born.

Other people who are at high risk of listeria

People at high risk of listeria include:

Early use of antibiotics can help in the treatment of listeria, but prevention is best.

Safe foods to avoid listeria

Safe foods to eat to avoid listeria include:

freshly prepared foods – to be eaten immediately
freshly cooked foods – to be eaten immediately
hard cheeses, cheese spreads, processed cheese
milk – freshly pasteurised and UHT
yoghurt
canned and pickled food.

Hints for handling and preparing food

When you handle and prepare food, you should take care to:

Wash and dry your hands well before preparing food, and between handling raw food and ready-to-eat foods.
Wash raw fruit and vegetables well before eating.
Cook all foods of animal origin, including eggs, thoroughly.
Don't use the same boards and knives for cooked foods that you used for raw foods unless they have been washed in warm, soapy water and dried.
Defrost food by placing it on the lower shelves of the fridge or use a microwave.
Always follow advice on food labels. Cooking foods before eating them can kill certain bacteria, including listeria.

Store food with care

When you store food, you should:

Keep food covered.
Place cooked food in the fridge within one hour of cooking.
Put raw meat, poultry and fish below cooked or ready-to-eat food in the fridge to prevent drips that could contaminate pre-prepared food.
Do not use refrigerated foods beyond their use-by dates.
Keep your fridge clean.

Food temperatures

Follow these tips on food temperatures:

Your fridge temperature should be below 5 °C.
Keep hot foods hot (above 60 °C) and cold foods cold (at, or below, 5 °C).
Reheat food until the internal temperature of the food is piping hot.
Ensure microwaved food reaches an even temperature before eating.

Where to get help

Food safety , Department of Health, Victorian Government.

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