Maple Leaf RECALLS!!!

Now this is a scary news and I want to share it with everyone. Listeriosis is pretty similar to E-coli and having this is scary and traumatizing. Isaiah had E-coli when he was 2 yrs. old from eating an uncooked hamburger (I won't say which food chain he got it from as it's been settled already) and he was hospitalize for 3 1/2 weeks, he had to have a dialysis to help his kidney clean his system and he had the dialysis earlier than scheduled as his doctor was scared that his kidney will totally shot down, fortunately it didn't. He also spend some nights in the I.C.U due to many seizures that was not too serious and didn't have any effect on his brain. So to everyone please be careful when feeding youngsters, I dont' want anyone to go through what i did, I can't even explain it, I guess if there is worse than hell then that would be the word to use to describe what I went through.

Maple Leaf Expands Recall After Products Linked To Deaths. Just hours after its products were linked to the Listeriosis outbreak that has killed four Canadians, Maple Leaf Foods extended its already existing meat recall. In a press release, the company announced that in a voluntary extension to the current recall, all items produced at the Bartor Road facility (Establishment No. 97B) will be pulled off the shelves as a precautionary measure. They can be identified by the Est. # 97B marking found near the best before date. Maple Leaf added that "not withstanding the fact that there is no evidence of Listeria contamination in product beyond the production lines originally under investigation". The company says it may take three to five days for all of the items to disappear off shelves across Canada, in one of the largest recalls of meat products ever.
"It is a fairly big recall of meat products," agreed Garfield Balsom of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. "I think if not the biggest it's probably among the biggest". However, she said, the process of determining where the product landed after it was purchased by distributors -- such as in hospitals or retirement homes -- has been more complex.
"There is a very active effort to work with all the food distribution customers. But it is not as direct, because there are customers, and then those customers have customers," she said.
"We are very confident but I cannot give you a percentage but virtually all of it has been removed." The move came after days of speculation that the bacteria was linked to tainted meat. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz confirmed the connection Saturday. Lab results from Health Canada and officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed that listeriosis bacteria found in two samples of recalled meat products from Maple Leaf's Toronto plant match the strain found to have infected almost two-dozen Canadians so far. Officials confirm 17 other people are sick from the same strain. There are 38 more suspected cases are being investigated across Canada. As several businesses are pulling the company's food from their shelves, Maple Leaf's plant in Toronto has been closed down for inspection and sanitation. The initial closure was only supposed to last four days. Now, it's not certain when the plant will reopen. President and CEO of Maple Leaf Michael McCain reported Sunday that cleanup efforts are going well, and plant is expected to reopen as early as Tuesday, depending on the results of the tests being done. The plant's closure and recall is expected to cost the company about $20 million, ten times the originally estimated expense. Although the evidence of recent testing is enough to show that the meat contained the same strain of Listeria as those who fell ill, testing will continue next week. It's unknown exactly what this latest revelation will mean for those who are sick.
"This is the toughest situation that we've faced in the 100 years of this company's history. We know that this has shaken confidence in us," McCain said Saturday. "To the families who have lost loved ones, I want to extend my deepest and most sincere condolences."
The recall has understandably worried consumers, who are giving a second look to deli meats they see on store shelves. "The scare and people dying, until somebody can tell me concrete that it's no in the cold cuts, I'm not interested," laughs grocery shopper Bruce Pallett. Because the bug's incubation period is so long - up to 70 days - officials believe many more cases will emerge in the coming weeks. Listeriosis, which can cause high fever, severe headache and nausea, is particularly dangerous for the elderly, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems. Most of the cases connected to this outbreak have been reported in people 50 and over. Eating Listeria-laced foods can be dangerous among those who are vulnerable to it - the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and the unborn fetuses of pregnant women. Anyone considered high-risk who suspects they've eaten contaminated meat should see their doctor just in case. Listeria can cause blood poisoning and potentially meningitis or encephalitis.
Those in the Toronto area have one more item to worry about. On Saturday, the CFIA announced that a sandwich available at drug stores may also be infected. Shopsy's Deli-Fresh Classic Reuben Sandwiches were sold in a 180 gram package with best before dates of up to and including August 22 and August 24 and the UPC code 7 76393 17001 8. A small number of the sandwiches were sold at locations in Toronto. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of the sandwiches. It contains sliced corned beef, one of the ready-to-eat deli meat products recalled by Maple Leaf Foods earlier this month.

Symptoms of Listeria
high fever
severe headache
neck stiffness
nausea