Three people have died after contracting serious food poisoning thought to be linked to hospital desserts.
Two others were hospitalised after becoming ill. All five patients had underlying health conditions. One of the deaths is confirmed to have been caused by listeria.
An investigation has been launched into the cases, which are thought to be linked to chocolate desserts supplied to the NHS.
Now, the Food Standards Agency has issued an alert over products that could be contaminated with listeria, according to Food Safety News.
It is understood that the chocolate mousse was supplied to the NHS by Cool Delight Desserts.
It affects frozen, ready-to-eat desserts by Cool Delight Desserts after listeria monocytogenes was found twice in chocolate and vanilla mousse and strawberry and vanilla mousse.
The bacteria samples were found in February at an NHS hospital in the South West of England as part of routine surveillance, the outlet reports.
What is listeria?
Listeria (listeria monocytogenes) is bacteria found in food, which causes listeriosis illnesses.
While most people will have no symptoms from it, it can be dangerous to some people, such as those with existing conditions, weakened immune system or pregnant people.
Listeriosis leads to around 26 deaths in the UK each year.
Here are some of the most common types of foods that can contain listeriosis according to the FSA.
- cold pre-cooked meats – such as chicken
- deli meats – such as salami and cold cuts
- smoked and cured fish – including sushi
- cooked shellfish
- soft mould-ripened cheeses – such as camembert, brie, and blue-veined cheeses
- pâté
- unpasteurised milk, or products made from unpasteurised milk
- pre-prepared sandwiches and salads
- pre-cut fruits (for example, pre-packed melon slices)
Mild listeriosis symptoms include high temperature, aches and pains, chills, aches, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea.
But, it can be more serious for elderly and pregnant people, who can suffer miscarriage and stillbirth from listeriosis.
Dr Gauri Godbole, Deputy Director for Gastrointestinal Infections, Food Safety and One Health at UKHSA, said: ‘Most people who are affected by listeriosis will have no symptoms or experience mild diarrhoea which subsides in a few days. Those who are more vulnerable like the severely immunocompromised or those with advanced aged can be at risk of severe illness such as meningitis and life-threatening sepsis. Listeriosis in pregnancy can cause very serious illness in mothers and their babies, and in babies up to 1 month old.
All pack sizes, best-before dates and batch codes of Cool Delight Desserts ice cream, ice cream rolls, mousses and yoghurts are affected.
The patients were identified between May and December last year.
Listeria was confirmed as a cause of death in one of the cases.
Two were in Yorkshire and Humber, one each in the North West of England and West Midlands, and one in Wales.
The patients had underlying health conditions and they were taken to hospital.
Their ages ranged from 68 to 89, according to Food Safety News.
Dr Godbole told Metro: ‘We are investigating a small number of cases of listeria. The cause of the outbreak isn’t confirmed yet.
‘However, our laboratory testing has identified a potential link to a particular type of dessert, which is not available from retailers but is served in some NHS Trusts.
‘Working with the Food Standards Agency, on a precautionary basis, we have advised NHS Trusts and those providing care to vulnerable people to stop serving these desserts while investigations are underway.’
We have approached Cool Delight Desserts for a comment.
Last month, the FSA recalled supermarket cheese because of a potential contamination.
A serious outbreak spread across 13 US states and was linked to three deaths last summer.
There were 43 reported cases of listeria linked to deli meats.
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