By Sandra D. Lane

On October 25th, 2019 North Bay Produce Inc. voluntarily issued a recall of certain varieties of fresh apples due to the potential of being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recall was initiated as a result of a product test that revealed that finished products contained the bacteria.

Listeria monocytogenes, usually known simply as Listeria, is a foodborne pathogen that causes listeriosis in those who ingest foods contaminated with it. Listeriosis has a mortality rate as high as 24%. In research found in the National Library of Medicine and Institute of Health (NCBI) one can find a journal list dated September 1991 that reveals:

L. monocytogenes in both sporadic and epidemic Listeriosis was unknown as recently as 10 years ago (1981), though direct transmission from infected animals to farm workers and veterinarians was well documented for cutaneous lesions. However, …an outbreak occurred in the Maritime Provinces of Canada between March and September 1981. (Microbiology Review pg. 486)

The child mortality rate of that outbreak was 27% and the adult mortality rate was 28.6%. The culprit? Coleslaw made from a farmer who raised cabbage and kept a flock of sheep; two of which had died from listeria. The cabbage had been grown in fields fertilized by both compost and raw manure from the sheep.

How did apples get contaminated?

SNIP