Safeway Pulls Caramel Apples From Shelves After Listeria Deaths, Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Safeway has pulled prepackaged caramel apples from its shelves, the grocery chain said Tuesday, a day after the family of a person who died from a listeria infection linked to the fruit sued the company. Shirlee Jean Frey, who died Dec. 2, became ill after buying several caramel apples from a Safeway supermarket in Felton in October, according to the suit filed Monday in Santa Cruz County Superior Court. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the 81-year-old woman was sickened with the same strains of listeria found in apples that infected 28 other people in nine states. Five of those people have died, although CDC officials say only three of the deaths have been linked directly to listeria. The cause of death in one case is unclear and the other death is believed to have not been connected to the infection. Brian Dowling, Safeway's vice president for public affairs, said in an email that the grocery chain has pulled the apples. "The product was supplied to us by a third party, and we are looking into this matter further," he said. "We were previously unaware of any issue as it relates to the specific sale of this product at our stores." He said Safeway could not discuss the Frey family's lawsuit. An attorney representing Frey's 87-year-old husband and two sons said health investigators took the remaining caramel apples from the family's house. "The thought that a caramel apple could sicken and kill people is a little disconcertin...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news