The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is advising consumers that Almark Foods is recalling all hard-boiled eggs manufactured at the company's Gainesville, Georgia facility, including all retail, pillow pack, pouch pack, frozen diced, and protein kit products, due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, a Listeria monocytogenes infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
On December 18, 2019 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration notified Almark Foods that the company's Hard-Boiled and Peeled eggs in pails manufactured at the Gainesville facility may be associated with a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak that has been linked to several reported illnesses and one reported death. A more recent FDA sample from the facility also matched the outbreak strain, suggesting the possibility that the strain may have remained present in the facility.
Almark is recalling all product packaged for the retail market manufactured at its Gainesville plant that remains within shelf life. This includes product with "Best If Used By" dates up through March 2, 2020. Almark has also temporarily suspended all production at its Gainesville plant. A full product list if available online. (See link below.)
The affected product can be identified by viewing the printed "Best If Used By" date coding on the product package. If the "Best If Used By" code starts with the prefix "G", the product was manufactured at the company's Gainesville, Georgia facility and is subject to this recall. Products with the prefix "N" or "Y" are not subject to this recall. For Protein Kit products, consumers are advised to check the code on the actual egg package within the kit.