990263 Georgia Checking for Recalled Meat Products

Atlanta - Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin, announced that Georgia Department of Agriculture inspectors are looking for recalled frankfurters and other products from a Georgia meat processing plant during their inspections of grocery and convenience stores.

Several meat products manufactured at Lowell Packing Company of Fitzgerald, Georgia, are being voluntarily recalled due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. The products involved are Lowell Frankfurters in the one-pound and 10-pound bulk packages, Lowell Red Hots in one-pound packages, and Colony City Smoked Sausage in 1-pound, 1-3/4-pound, and 4-pound packages. The products being recalled bear "EST P-2600" and the product date code "41" on the package. Consumers who purchased these products with this establishment number and date code should return them to the place of purchase for a refund, said Commissioner Irvin. The products were distributed in Georgia and eastern Alabama.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially serious disease. The most common manifestation of listeriosis is meningitis, which has symptoms of high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections to infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems such as persons with chronic disease, HIV infection or taking chemotherapy for cancer.

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