Passenger Trains > Amtrak NEC Crummysnackbar food recalled, possible listeria

Food sold on Amtrak trains was recalled due to potential listeria contamination, but no illnesses have been reported

The products, including sandwiches, salads, snacks, yogurt, and wraps, were available for sale from Jan. 24 to 30, the food company said.

Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb 6, 2023
 
A Baltimore company has voluntarily recalled potentially contaminated pre-packaged food items sold on Amtrak trains, vending machines, and stores across several states including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, officials said

The more than 400 products, including sandwiches, salads, snacks, yogurt, and wraps, were available for sale from Jan. 24 to 30, said the company, Fresh Ideation Food Group LLC, in a news release shared on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website on Friday.

The company said the food items could be contaminated with listeria, but no illnesses have been reported.

Amtrak said the recalled food items were available for sale on Acela and Northeast Regional trains between Jan. 24 and Jan. 29

Amtrak immediately stopped serving the products and removed them from all trains, the agency said in a statement. Anyone who purchased food items on a train during the specified timeframe should throw them out.

“All products currently served onboard are completely safe to consume,” Amtrak said.

The recall was prompted by a “routine environmental sampling” at a company facility that was conducted by Fresh Ideation, but testing on products ready for sale has been negative so far for listeria and the company is taking “active measure to eliminate future possibility for contamination,” Amtrak said.

The company said the recalled products have a Fresh Creative Cuisine label and or an identifier on the bottom of the label with the Fresh Creative Cuisine name, and a fresh through or sell through date ranging from Jan. 31 through Feb. 6.

The products were available for sale in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

“This voluntary recall was initiated in an abundance of caution and represents the only recall in the company’s history,” Fresh Ideation said in an email.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a listeria infection — called listeriosis — is usually caused by eating contaminated food. The disease primarily affects pregnant people, newborns, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems

Signs of listeria infection in healthy individuals can include temporary fever, headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and or diarrhea, officials said.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/amtrak-food-recall-listeria-20230206.html

NOTE:  I don't know why the crossout.  I tried to edit the post but the crossout persists. Something strange is happening in the "paste" operation, whether with formatting or without.  Maybe Todd knows??
 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/23 01:50 by GenePoon.

Here is a New York Times article on the same subject, copied "off the paywall."  Maybe it will do better.

Breakfast Sandwiches and Fruit Cups Are Recalled Over Listeria Risk

More than 400 food products from Fresh Ideation Food Group were recalled, some of which were sold on Amtrak trains and in vending machines last month.

New York Times
By Emily Schmall
Feb. 6, 2023

A Baltimore-based company has recalled more than 400 food items sold in Amtrak trains, vending machines and shops across the Eastern Seaboard because of potential listeria contamination, the federal Food and Drug Administration said last week.

The company, Fresh Ideation Food Group, recalled breakfast sandwiches, muffins, yogurt, fresh produce and other items sold from Jan. 24 to Jan. 30 “because the products have the potential to be contaminated” with listeria bacteria, the F.D.A. said.

Listeria causes an illness that can be fatal, especially among children, older adults and those with weakened immune systems, and an infection that can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths.

The recall applies to products with a “sell through” date from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6. The affected products were distributed in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.

“During routine monitoring of our facility, we determined that listeria may be present in the facility,” the company said in a prerecorded statement. “In an abundance of caution, we have recalled all products made at the time of this finding.”

No illnesses had been reported by Feb. 3, when the F.D.A. announced the recall. Consumers who have purchased any of the items are encouraged to contact Fresh Ideation.

A company spokesman did not immediately respond to messages seeking more information.


In an email to customers, Amtrak said that some of the recalled products had been sold on two of its busiest train lines, the Acela and Northeast Regional trains, between Jan. 24 and 29.

“We immediately stopped serving these products and promptly removed them from our trains upon notification,” the company said, adding that “all products currently served onboard are completely safe to consume.”

Symptoms of listeria can include fever, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The symptoms generally begin roughly two weeks after ingesting food laced with the bacteria.

In the United States, past listeria outbreaks have been connected to undercooked poultry, raw vegetables and unpasteurized milks and ice cream, the F.D.A. said.

Big Olaf Creamery, a family-owned business in Sarasota, Fla., recalled its ice cream amid an F.D.A. investigation last summer into an outbreak that killed at least one person and sickened two dozen other people.

At least one person died and 13 others were hospitalized during a listeria outbreak last fall that federal officials tied to deli meat and cheeses. Among those sickened during the outbreak was a pregnant person who lost the pregnancy, the F.D.A. said.

Pregnant women are 10 times more likely than other people to become infected, according to the C.D.C.

About 1,600 people get listeriosis in the United States each year, according to the C.D.C., and about one in five people with the infection die.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/health/listeria-recall-amtrak.html



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/23 01:58 by GenePoon.

Typical "trainorders" crap - like Amtrak had anything to do with this other than purchasing food from a vendor. 
No one on  any train reported an illness and Amtrak stopped offering the offending snacks and notified people on the trains what happened.
Same as ANY OTHER COMPANY would do.

dispr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Typical "trainorders" crap - like Amtrak had
> anything to do with this other than purchasing
> food from a vendor. 
> No one on  any train reported an illness and
> Amtrak stopped offering the offending snacks and
> notified people on the trains what happened.
> Same as ANY OTHER COMPANY would do.


But our expert Amtrak haters know it's Amtrak's fault. Everything else including the war in Ukraine and the Turkish earthquake is Amtrak's fault, so why not this?

No, simply posting a mass media article is not "Typical "trainorders" crap". The title in the subject is the only editorial license, which also occurs in the free press - usually editors write the titles, not the authors of the articles. Notice that none of us piled on to blame Amtrak, since it happens even to the best supermarkets.

What is  Typical "trainorders" crap" are the extents Amtrak apologists here go through with appeals for censorship as though they are the Amtrak unsolicited PR department.  

"Anyone who purchased food items on a train during the specified timeframe should throw them out."

Wonder how many people buy food items in a train cafe then store them for over a week?

LOL. I always ride the NE Regional, so I can stock up on over-priced gas station food and bring it home for later consumption.

Posted from Android

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA