Deadly listeria outbreak linked to hard-boiled eggs prompts nationwide alert

Author: Travis Pittman, TEGNA

Consumers are being warned to throw out their store-bought hard-boiled eggs due to a deadly Listeria outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the eggs have made seven people in five states sick, including four who had to be hospitalized.

One person in Texas died. A newborn was infected while its mother was pregnant, but the baby survived. The illnesses were reported in Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

The eggs from Almark Foods of Gainesville, Ga., were sent to foodservice operators nationwide. They have not been recalled. Due to this possible presence of Listeria, the CDC is warning against selling, serving or using the eggs to make other products.

The CDC says consumers will not be able to tell if the products they have purchased contain these eggs, so retailers and foodservice operators need to know who supplies their bulk hard-boiled eggs. If you bought an egg salad from one of these places, you may not know where the eggs came from.

This does not affect eggs you bought at the store and then hard-boiled at home on your own. It only affects store-bought hard-boiled eggs and products that contain them.

People who are at higher risk for Listeria infection, such as pregnant women, newborns, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems, are urged to throw away any store-bought hard-boiled eggs or products containing hard-boiled eggs. Throw them away regardless of where you bought them or their use-by date.

Wash and sanitize any surfaces where they were stored, including in the refrigerator or freezer.

Consumers are also urged to ask restaurants if they know where their hard-boiled eggs come from. If the restaurant doesn’t know, don’t eat it.

For retailers and foodservice companies, this advice does not include Almark Foods hard-boiled eggs that were sold directly to consumers or any other brands of hard-boiled eggs or products made with hard-boiled eggs. It also does not include eggs that retailers or restaurants have hard-boiled on their own.