Concerns grow over listeria outbreak in caramel apples
Five days after federal health officials blamed a deadly listeria outbreak on pre-packaged caramel apples, the first lawsuit has been filed by the family of one of the victims, and a major supermarket chain has pulled the product from its shelves.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 29 people in 10 states were sickened and 5 died after eating store-bought caramel apples contaminated with listeria. At least 3 of the deaths were directly caused by the bacterial infection, according to the CDC.
One of the victims, 81-year-old Shirlee Jean Frey of Felton, California, who died Dec. 2, became ill after buying caramel apples from a local Safeway supermarket in October, CBS San Francisco reported. Her family filed a lawsuit Monday in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
Brian Dowling, Safeway's vice president for public affairs, said in an email that the grocery chain has pulled the product from its store shelves.
"The product was supplied to us by a third party, and we are looking into this matter further," he said. "We were previously unaware of any issue as it relates to the specific sale of this product at our stores."
He said Safeway could not discuss the Frey family's lawsuit.
An attorney representing Frey's 87-year-old husband and two sons said health investigators took the remaining caramel apples from the family's house.
"The thought that a caramel apple could sicken and kill people is a little disconcerting," lawyer Bill Marler said. "It's been hard for the family; it's been a shock to them."
Two other deaths were reported in Minnesota.
Health officials are still trying to determine the exact source of the infection and have not named a specific brand or manufacturer involved. In the meantime, they urged anyone with commercially produced, pre-packaged caramel apples at home to throw them away.
Canada's CBC News reports two cases of illness have been identified in that country that match the strain of listeria in the U.S. outbreak. Officials are investigating whether the two people sickened in Canada also ate pre-packaged caramel apples.
Listeria is a foodborne illness that is especially dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea. It rarely causes serious illness in healthy people and can be treated with antibiotics.
Because it can be so serious for some people, outbreaks of listeria generally cause more deaths than other pathogens such as salmonella or E. coli. A listeria outbreak linked to a Colorado cantaloupe producer in 2011 caused 33 deaths.