Summerhill Market deli meat products test positive for Listeria: Toronto Public Health
Toronto Public Health (TPH) is investigating after it identified two confirmed cases of Listeria in the city and found the bacteria in the grocery chain Summerhill Market's deli meat.
The affected ready-to-eat deli meat products were sold at Summerhill on or before Thursday, TPH said in a news release issued Friday. The products will also have a label indicating they were packaged at 446 Summerhill Avenue, TPH said.
Impacted products were sold at the following Summerhill locations, according to TPH:
446 Summerhill Ave.
1054 Mount Pleasant Rd.
484 Eglinton Ave. W.
1014 Bathurst St.
3609 Dundas St. W.
32 Wellington St. W., Aurora
TPH says shoppers who bought the products should immediately throw them out or return them to the store. Anyone who ate the products should watch for symptoms and seek medical attention if they appear, TPH said.
Symptoms can start as early as three days or as late as 70 days after eating contaminated food or drink, TPH said. They can include fever, nausea, cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, constipation and muscle aches. TPH said in severe cases, the bacteria can spread to the nervous system and lead to stiff neck, confusion, headache and loss of balance.
The warning comes after three Canadians died from a Listeria outbreak traced to plant-based milk earlier this year.
Summerhill Market 'extremely concerned'
In a statement on Friday, Summerhill Market said it was "extremely concerned" when it learned that the beef tongue in jelly, bought from a third-party supplier fully sealed and unsliced, tested positive for listeria.
The grocery chain said it recalled all of its products from the supplier as well as products that may have come into contract with the same slicer used for the beef tongue in jelly.
Summerhill Market said it has also done a "deep clean" and sanitation of its equipment, racking and areas that may have come into contact with the products.
Most of its deli meats are processed at its Commissary 129 Railside Road location, which is unaffected by the recall and has passed all inspections, the grocery chain said.
Customers are urged to check this list of recalled items that may have come into the contact with same slicer as the product. The 26 products listed should not be consumed, and it encourages customers to discard them and call for a full refund.
"We stand behind all of our current items for sale in our stores, and they are safe for consumption," Summerhill Market said in the statement.
"We will continue to work closely with Toronto Public Health and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and we offer our deepest sympathies to our loyal customers and community members who may have encountered compromised products."
