About 10,000 cases of Eggo brand Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat Waffles have been recalled by their parent company, saying that they have the potential to have been contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes.
According to a press release issued through the Kellogg Company's web site, there are no reports of illness to date and the warning is strictly preventative:
The recall is a result of routine tests that the company conducts which identified the potential for contamination. As soon as the company learned of a potential concern, it moved quickly to identify any foods that might be impacted and resolve the issue.
Kellogg is asking that people who purchased affected product discard it and contact the company for a full refund.
The affected batches of waffles were distributed to customers and retailers in 25 states: CO, CT, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VA, VT, WI, WY.
Those batches can be identified by the following label:
The Listeria bacteria can be especially harmful to children, the elderly, pregnant women, and anybody with a weakened immune system. Symptoms of infection include nausea, vomiting, weakness, severe headaches, and a high fever but are treatable with antibiotics.
The Eggo brand has had other recalls because due to listeria contamination: in 2009, the Georgia Agriculture Department found the bacteria in a plant for Eggo Buttermilk Waffles (the plant was shut down for "hygienic restoration"), and in 2010 the Food and Drug Administration wrote a letter to Kellogg's, calling the Atlanta plant "contaminated."