If you’re a Pennsylvania resident and ate sunflower seeds served on the salad bars at local MARTIN’S Food Markets, you may have been exposed to the potentially lethal bacteria Listeria monocyotogenes, said Martin’s Food Company on Tuesday.
The potentially contaminated sunflower seeds were sold on salad bars at multiple locations (listed below) from May 20th – May 22nd.
MARTIN’S Markets Serves Listeria-Contaminated Salad Seeds
The following locations are the only MARTIN’S Markets that served the contaminated seeds:
- Ashland: 253 North Washington Highway
- Chester: 12601 Jefferson Davis Highway
- Chesterfield: 6401 Centralia Road, Chesterfield
- Colonial Heights: 3107-15 Blvd., Colonial Heights
- Glen Allen:
- 10150 Brook Road, Glen Allen
- 10250 Staples Mill Road, Glen Allen
- 9645 West Broad Street, Glen Allen
- Mechanicsville: 7324 Bell Creek Road
- Midlothian:
- 200 Charter Colony Parkway
- 13700 Hull Street Road
- Petersburg: 3330 South Crater Road
- Richmond:
- 5700 Brook Road
- 5201 Chippenham Crossing Center
- 7045 Forest Hill Ave.
- 10001 Hull Street Road
- 2250 John Rolfe Parkway
- 11361 Midlothian Turnpike
- 3460 Pump Road
- 4591 South Laburnum Road
- 3000 Stony Point Road
- 7035 Three Chopt Road
- 3522 West Cary St.
- Williamsburg: 4660 Monticello Ave.
The sunflower seeds served in the markets were supplied by SunOpta, which expanded an initial May 4th recall of sunflower seeds at the end of last week.
MARTIN’S says that it has not received any reports of illness at this time; however, Listeria symptoms may take up to two months to appear after ingesting the bacteria.
“Customers who have purchased this product should discard any unused portions and bring their purchase receipt to MARTIN’S for a full refund,” the company says.
Listeria Signs, Symptoms and Treatment
Listeriosis, another name for the illness caused by consuming food contaminated with the bacteria Listeria, typically results from eating something already contaminated with the bacteria.
Health people rarely contract listeriosis; however, when they do, symptoms tend to be mild and include stiff neck, fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea.
The infection is much more common among the elderly (people above the age of 65), young children, and people with otherwise weakened immune systems. Almost everyone in these categories who contracts listeriosis has an “invasive” infection, which means that the bacteria has spread beyond the gastrointestinal tract and into other parts of the body.
Listeria is treated with antibiotics.
