Contaminated Hot Dogs Recalled

Zeigler , an Alabama based company has issued a voluntarily recall of 28,610 pounds of hot dogs that was shipped to five state; Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. An inspector in Atlanta found a single package of wieners contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is found in soil and water. When grazing animals eat the tainted vegetables or drink the tainted water, they can become effected with the disease. The problem is these animals do not display signs of infection Listeria is detectable after the animals are processed. Cooking and pasteurization does kill the disease, but in the case of hot dogs and deli meats, they can become contaminated after cooking but before packaging and cause food poisoning.

Listeria is a serious infection that effects individuals with weaken immune systems, like newborns, pregnant women, and persons in advanced age. The greatest risk of infection belongs to pregnant women. A pregnant woman may only experience a mild flu-like illness; however infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth, premature delivery, or infection of the newborn.

The United States estimates are that over 2,500 people become seriously ill from listeria every year. Out of those nearly 500 people die. According to the president of Zeigler, the company only expects to retrieve fewer than 2,000 pounds of the affected product. The affected product was produced on September 22, so most of it has already gone through the system. To date, no reported case has arisen from the Zeigler hot dogs.