Between October 15th and 20th, a group of three individuals were identified as positive for Listeria monocytogenes. By November 10th, 16 more individuals had been identified. In the next few weeks, another 11 confirmed cases of Listeria were on record. Rushing to find the source, local and federal health official interviewed all the victims who could conduct an interview and noted a pattern – caramel apples. The caramel apples came from Happy Apple, Merb’s Candies, and California Snack Foods, three separate companies who all sold packaged caramel apples. By the end of 2014, all three companies had issued recalls. On December 24th, Happy Apple issued a recall, followed on the 27th by California Snack Foods and on the 29th by Merb’s Candies.
These caramel apple manufacturers, however, did not share a common source for caramel, but they did all share a common apple supplier, Bidart Bros. Apples. As the investigation continued, more cases were identified and linked to the same apples. On January 6, 2015, Bidart Bros. issued a recall of all of its Gala and Granny Smith apples. Following that announcement, a couple additional cases were identified, bringing the total number of Listeria victims tied to caramel apples to 35 (31 noted having consumed caramel apples, whilst a couple more identified green apples among items recently consumed).
“The green apples produced by Bidart Bros. are clearly at the center of this outbreak,” says national Listeria lawyer Ron Simon who represents victims in this outbreak. “The apples are the common link between the victims,” says Simon, noting “and whether victims ate the green apples directly, or ate caramel covered apples made with the Listeria tainted apples, each victim was made ill because the apples were not properly cleaned and sanitized prior to being sold to consumers.”
Ironically, this outbreak follows in a recent trend of Listeria outbreaks that notes Listeria Commonly Linked to Fruit. A recent report by the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration, issued this month, looks at 952 recent outbreaks and reports among its findings that 81 percent of all Listeria outbreaks are linked to fruit and dairy. Most recently, a Listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupe turned deadly in 2013. Now, Gala and Granny Smith apples are linked to 35 illnesses and as many as 7 reports of death. Listeria Lawyer Ron Simon, who represents victims in both the Listeria cantaloupe outbreak and this Listeria Caramel Apple outbreak, says this trend “is disturbing,” noting that “all fruit should be properly harvested, packaged, and sanitized to prevent infection with Listeria.”
For more information, or to speak to a Listeria lawyer, call 1-888-335-4901 or 713-306-3880.
