Highest FDA health warning issued over recalled nuts: ‘Reasonable probability of death’

The FDA has issued the most severe recall over fears of contamination in popular nuts, warning there is ‘reasonable probability of death.’

California-based Stutz Packing Company recalled 1lb packages of its Shelled Walnuts after discovering the products contained listeria – a deadly bacteria driving a recall of deli meat that has killed three people. 

The FDA deemed the recall a Class I, which is ‘a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.’

The company initiated the recall of more than 2,500 cases last month after routine sampling of the walnuts revealed the finished products contained listeria.  

Routine sampling of the walnuts revealed the finished products contained listeria

Stutz Packing Company said the nuts were distributed to warehouses in Texas and Arizona, which further distribute them to food banks, schools, shelters and prison food systems. 

The company has stopped production and distribution of the products and will continue to investigate the contamination alongside the FDA.

No other walnut products from the company are affected and no illnesses have been reported. 

Stutz’s recall came just days after Boar’s Head Provisions Co. recalled more than 7million pounds of its meat and poultry products after a sample also tested positive for listeria.

Three people have died from listeria infections linked to Boar’s Head meat sold across the country in places like Target, Walmart and other grocery stores.

The CDC revealed last week the latest victim was from Virginia, with the other deaths occurring in Illinois and New Jersey.

Since the last update at the end of July, nine more cases have been reported, bringing the total to 43. All 43 people have been hospitalized.

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacteria that can cause listeriosis, a bacterial infection that can lead to severe illness and death.

Warning signs of an infection with listeria include nausea, cramps, diarrhea and constipation — which generally emerge within hours to three days of consuming contaminated food.

More than 90 percent of patients are hospitalized, the FDA says.

In severe cases, the bacteria can spread to the nervous system and cause meningitis — inflammation of the fluid surrounding the brain — and sepsis.

Both can prove fatal.

Those with weakened immune systems and people older than 60 are at particularly high risk from the infection, officials say.

Pregnant women are also at higher risk of suffering a miscarriage if they contract listeria because the bacteria can spread to the fetus.

Approximately 1,600 people are infected with listeria in the US every year, estimates suggest, while about 260 people die.