Major Manufacturer Discovers Listeria Contamination in Meat, Issued Health Recall
Manda Fine Meats, a manufacturer based in Baton Rouge, has issued a health recall that started with 20,000 lbs of meat, and was recently expanded to cover 468,000 lbs of their meat products.
The health recall covers the company’s ham, turkey breast, roast beef, tasso pork, ham shanks, corned beef, pastrami, and hog-head cheese. The tainted products were all produced at the company’s Baker facility. Company officials said that Manda sausage products are not affected, as those are produced at another facility.
Allegedly-tainted meats were produced between February 27th and April 9th, and have sell-by dates between May 13 and July 2. Shipments of tainted meat went to several southern states, including South Carolina.
According to the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the meat has been tainted with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria bacteria cause listeriosis, an uncommon but serious disease that can cause high fever, nausea, neck stiffness, and headache. Anyone who has a weakened immune system should be especially cautious, as listeriosis can be fatal.
Manda officials expanded the health recall “out of an abundance of caution.” However, so far the company has said nothing about how the meat became tainted with Listeria.
The USDA was alerted to the problem after Tennessee Department of Agriculture officials took a Manda cooked roasted beef sample from a retail store on April 5th, and discovered that it was infested with Listeria. Additional meat samples showed contamination as well, so the problem was traced back to the manufacturer.
So far, no illnesses have been traced back to the tainted meat. However, consumers should pay attention for possible symptoms.
Manda has cooperated fully with USDA investigators. Anyone with questions about the recall can contact Josh Yarborough, Manda’s director of quality assurance and food safety at (225) 344-7636, ext. 59.
Defective Products Can Lead to Health Recalls
Every year, thousands of consumers sustain serious injuries from defective products. A defective product lawyer can help you with an injury you may receive. Many of these injuries could be avoided if the manufacturers or distributors of these products took additional steps to ensure consumer safety. Defective products that commonly cause injuries include medical devices, pharmaceutical products, and other defective products such as toys, cars and automotive parts.
There are a number of reasons that defective products make it to our shelves:
- Defective manufacturing
- Inadequate testing
- Design defects
- Marketing Misrepresentation
Consumers that have been harmed by defective products such as drugs, medical devices, or other products, may be eligible to receive legal remedies. Such legal remedies, or damages, may include compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, loss of physical capacity, pain, suffering, and mental anguish. Punitive damages are also available in many jurisdictions to punish defendants in those cases involving particularly egregious conduct which demonstrates a reckless or wanton disregard for the safety of the public.
Health Recall and Defective Product Lawyers at the Strom Law Firm
Many manufacturers do their best to produce high-quality food, medical, and recreational equipment. However, some companies do not pay close enough attention to the manufacturing process, and can release products on the market that cause great personal injury. While the FDA and USDA issue safety and health recalls on a regular basis, they do not always catch defects in time to prevent consumers from coming to harm. It is important to hold manufacturers to a higher standard, and a defective products lawyer can help when a health recall has not been issued in time. The Columbia, South Carolina-based attorneys at the Strom Law Firm are licensed to practice in South Carolina, Georgia, and New York, to help you with your personal injury or defective product claim. We offer free consultations to discuss the facts of your case, so contact us today for help. 803.252.4800.
