RICHMOND, Va. – The USDA announced that Ukrop's Homestyle Foods is recalling more than 18,000 pounds of meat on Friday.
According to the USDA, the Richmond-based food company is recalling about 18,296 pounds of ready-to-eat and poultry deli-sliced products that may be contaminated with bacteria that can cause a serious infection.
Recommended Videos
This has been classified as a Class I Recall, which the USDA defines as "a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death."
The USDA says that the recalled products were produced and packaged between September 14 through October 3.
Eating food contaminated by the bacteria, called Listeria monocytogenes, can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily impacts older adults, those with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and newborns. People outside of these groups can be affected, but it is less common.
The USDA defined listeriosis symptoms as the following:
Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. An invasive infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn. In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics. Persons in the higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating contaminated food should seek medical care and tell the health care provider about eating the contaminated food.
The USDA says that anyone who has purchased affected items should return them to the store where they were purchased.
There have been no confirmed reports of bad reactions due to these products.