The online publication, WebMD, published an article that causes more doubt
and worry about the food we eat every day. At first it was tainted or spoiled meat (salmonella).
Then, in the last six months, the deadly Listeria illness is said to have been caused by
various foods sold in grocery stores and marketed by food distributors. Based on reading the article
it seems while the symptoms, and deadly effects of Listeria are known, the source or
cause of it is still mysterious.
Any articles I have read about listeria seem to rule out one cause. That is, food spoilage caused
by the food being kept at improper temperatures. Also, it seems unclear as to whether
Listeria is a bacteria or virus. My guess would be some sort of bacteria. The reason for this is:
the listeria in the cases of the contaminated cantaloupe, and the hard boiled eggs (which were
produced and then marketed to stores that made such items as ready-to eat salads), don't
show any common link of being kept at improper temperatures, especially in the case of the cantel-
oupe. In the case of the Listeria contaminated canteloupe, the melons had simply been
picked in the fields and then transported to markets.
I would urge everyone to read the article written February 6, 2012, called, Hard Boiled Egg Recall Hits
34 States by Daniel J. DeNoon. In addition to explaining which grocers and stores have had their
merchandise recalled, there is an important list of symptoms to watch for.
The symptoms include: fever, muscle aches, stiff neck, headache, confusion, loss
of balance, and convulsions. The fatality rate for Listeria poisoning is 20%. the symptoms
can occur from 3 days to 2 months after contamination.
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