Hard-boiled eggs linked to Listeria outbreak

Almark Foods has expanded its voluntary recall first announced on Dec. 20, 2019, to include all hard-boiled eggs manufactured at the firm’s Gainesville, Georgia facility, including all retail, pillow pack, pouch pack, frozen diced, and protein kit products, due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

On Dec. 18, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified Almark Foods that the company’s hard-boiled and peeled eggs in pails manufactured at the Gainesville facility may be associated with a L. monocytogenes outbreak that has been linked to several reported illnesses and one reported death. A more recent FDA sample from the facility also matched the outbreak strain, suggesting the possibility that the strain may have remained present in the facility.

Out of an abundance of caution, Almark is voluntarily expanding its recall to include all product packaged for the retail market manufactured at its Gainesville plant that remains within shelf life. This includes product with “best if used by” dates up through March 2, 2020. Almark has also temporarily suspended all production at its Gainesville plant.

The affected product can be identified by viewing the printed “best if used by” date coding on the product package. If the “best if used by” code starts with the prefix “G”, the product was manufactured at the company’s Gainesville, Georgia facility and is subject to this recall. Products with the prefix “N” or “Y” are not subject to this recall. For protein kit products, consumers are advised to check the code on the actual egg package within the kit. The products were distributed throughout the United States.

Companies who received recalled product from Almark Foods have initiated recalls of products containing these eggs. Additional companies and products may be added as the investigation continues.

• Bakkavor Foods (Trader Joe’s Egg Salad and Potato Salad)
• Diebergs Kitchen (Diebergs Market products)
• Reichel Foods (Pro2Snax to the Max)
• FiveStar Gourmet (MiniMeals2Go)

Press release