Safeway (Photo : Reuters)
Safeway has pulled caramel apples from its shelves after a few threats of lawsuits coming out recently and as a response to the warning released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
In collaboration with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and with public health officials, the CDC is investigating an outbreak of listeriosis that can cause a life-threatening illness. The infection can be treated with antibiotics only when detected early.
Consumers in the U.S. are being advised to avoid eating pre-packaged caramel apples that are commercially produced as they cause listeriosis. Among the states affected by the outbreak are Arizona, California, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
The highest number recorded in a single state as of Dec. 22 is in Missouri and New Mexico, each with five reported cases. Five people have already died from listeria and CDC officials are warning that the elderly, pregnant women and children are more prone to getting infected.
Among the symptoms of listeria are fever, diarrhea and body aches.
The CDC reported that 28 other people have been infected with listeria and among the five people who died of the infection is an 81-year-old woman. Her death was reportedly linked to eating caramel apples she had bought in October in a Safeway store.
According to Safeway vice president for public affairs Brian Dowling, the company has decided to pull the caramel apples from the shelves while investigation is on the process.
"We were previously unaware of any issue as it relates to the specific sale of this product at our stores," Dowling told The Science Times adding that a third party supplied the caramel apples to Safeway.
