Safeway Stores Pull Caramel Apples Following Listeria Deaths

Safeway announced Tuesday the supermarket chain has pulled prepackaged caramel apples from its shelves, one day after being hit with a lawsuit alleging a person died from consuming a listeria-infected caramel apple.

The family of 81-year-old Shirlee Jean Frey, who died Dec. 2 after buying several caramel apples from a Safeway grocery store in Felton, California, filed suit Monday in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.

Frey died from the same strain of listeria found in apples that infected 28 other people in nine states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Five of those infected have died, though officials say just three deaths have been directly linked to listeria.

“The product was supplied to us by a third party, and we are looking into this matter further,” said Brian Dowling, Safeway’s vice president for public affairs. “We were previously unaware of any issue as it relates to the specific sale of this product at our stores.”

Health officials are continuing efforts to track the source of the infection.

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium capable of causing serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, pregnant women and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms (such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea), Listeria infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths and fetal infection among pregnant women.

Image: Flickr (Neil Conway)