Meat producer Alexander & Hornung recalled 2,320,774 pounds of pork products including fully cooked ham and pepperoni due to potential Listeria exposure. Photo courtesy Food Safety and Inspection Service
Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Meat producer Alexander & Hornung has recalled more than 2 million pounds of pork products due to possible exposure to Listeria monocytogenes.
The recall was expanded from 234,391 pounds to 2.32 million pounds of meat, including fully cooked ham and pepperoni products bearing the establishment number "EST. M10125." The products were shipped to retail locations nationwide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement Saturday.
The issue was discovered after the company notified the agency that product sampling reported positive Listeria monocytogenes results.
No confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of the products have been reported, but consuming food contaminated with Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in children, elderly people, those with compromised immune systems, pregnant women and newborns.
"While there have been no illnesses or complaints associated with the products and there is no conclusive evidence that the products were contaminated at the time of shipment, the voluntary recall is being initiated out of an abundance of caution," Alexander & Hornung said in a separate statement.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service said it was concerned some products may be in consumers' refirgirators or freezers and urged anyone who purchased the affected products not to consume them but rather throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.
Consuming food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can lead to listerosis which can commonly cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff, neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.
Serious cases can also cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery in pregnant women or life-threatening infection in newborns and can also be fatal in older adults and people with weakened immune systems.
