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The FDA issued a warning after a listeria outbreak was linked to hard-boiled eggs. Getty Images
  • The FDA warns that consuming foods contaminated with listeria can lead to a severe and even life-threatening illness called listeriosis.
  • An outbreak of listeria connected to hard-boiled eggs is being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
  • The product in question are peeled hard-boiled eggs sold to restaurants and other food service operators.

A multistate outbreak of listeria connected to hard-boiled eggs produced by Almark Foods is currently being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

People in Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas have gotten sick. According to the CDC, 4 people have been hospitalized so far, and there has been one death in Texas.

“Interviews with ill people and laboratory evidence indicate that bulk, fresh hard-boiled eggs produced by Almark Foods of Gainesville, Ga., are a likely source of this outbreak. These eggs were packaged in plastic pails and sold under various brand names nationwide to food service operators, including grocery stores and restaurants,” the CDC said in a statement.

These are hard-boiled, peeled eggs that were packaged in plastic pails and sold nationwide to food service operators and restaurants.

A spokesperson for Almark told Healthline it’s important to remember that the eggs in question “are sold to restaurants and similar businesses in plastic pails. Consumers would not find the affected product on supermarket shelves. While it is a serious situation, people need to know that this isn’t a product they would be purchasing directly.”

In the outbreak announcement, the CDC referenced an inspection conducted at the Almark production plant that was performed by the FDA. That inspection was described in a warning letter sent by the FDA to Almark in July.

The letter says that the outbreak strain of listeria was found in two locations at the plant, one from a food contact surface and another from the peeling room floor.

According to the warning letter, “Based on FDA’s analytical results for the environmental sample collected during the inspection, we determined that your food products are adulterated within the meaning of section 402(a)(4) of Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) [21 U.S.C. §342 (a)(4)], in that they were prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health.”

In the same letter, the FDA warns that consuming foods contaminated with listeria can lead to a severe and even life-threatening illness called listeriosis.

The FDA added that this infection is a major public health concern due to “the severity of the disease, its high case-fatality rate, its long incubation time, and its tendency to affect individuals with underlying conditions.”

“Listeria is one of the foodborne illnesses,” said Dr. Julie Mangino, a specialist in infectious disease at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio.

“The symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea, and diarrhea,” she said. “Sometimes the listeria bug can get into the brain and cause a symptom of meningitis whereby you can get headaches, confusion, and issues with your balance.”

While this type of infection is treatable with antibiotics, experts advise you go to the nearest emergency room if you experience:

  • a fever that remains high
  • severe headache
  • stiff neck
  • confusion

“The people who are most at risk are people who are pregnant, newborns less than a year old, people over 65 years old, and those who have impaired immune systems,” said Mangino.

“You can have impaired immune system because of cancer chemotherapy, dialysis, immune suppressive medications like steroids, or immune modulators, so they can make your immune system suppressed and then you’re at higher risk for acquiring the infection,” she continued.

If you fall into one of these categories, the CDC advises that you throw away any store-bought hard-boiled eggs or products containing hard-boiled eggs, such as egg salad.

If you do have these products at home, don’t eat them. They should be thrown out, no matter where you bought them or the expiration date.

The CDC recommends washing and sanitizing drawers or shelves in refrigerators and freezers where these products were kept.

The agency has also said practicing basic food prep awareness could prevent listeria infection. This includes washing your hands well before and after handling food and cooking food thoroughly.

The CDC and FDA are investigating a multistate outbreak of listeria that was traced back to a company called Almark Foods.

Listeria is a foodborne infection, and the people most at risk include pregnant women, children under 1 year old, and people with compromised immune systems.

The product in question are peeled, hard-boiled eggs that the company sells to restaurants and other food service operators. A spokesperson for the company emphasized that this isn’t a product that consumers will find on supermarket shelves.