Gourmet Boutique, a food company based in Jamaica, Queens, has voluntarily recalled 286,320 pounds of various beef, pork, turkey and chicken products, after discovering they may have been contaminated with Listeria, a bacteria that can cause listerosis, a disease the CDC says primarily affects "persons of advanced age, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems."
The products suspected of contaminated include a variety of fresh and frozen items, such as the "Gourmet Boutique Honey Chicken Salad," "Gourmet Boutique Chicken Burrito," and "Gourmet Boutique Wrapanini Meatball Parmigiana"--here's a list of the foods (PDF)--but no one has reported any illness related to the products. According to the NY Times, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's recall was a "Class I alert," which is when there's a "reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death."
Gourmet Boutique hasn't responded for comment, but the Times says their outgoing phone message notes how the company has made changes at the plant and is "confident of the safety and quality of our products." The company recalled about 7,000 pounds of products in March, also after a listeria contamination scare.
