A sausage, egg and cheese sandwich that is sold at Starbucks stores throughout the country has been recalled over fears that it was affected with listeria. Starbucks locations in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma were the only locations affected by the recall.
The tainted 6-ounce sandwich comes from Progressive Gourmet, a supplier to Starbucks that is based in Wilmington, Mass., and would have been sold in Starbucks on either March 3 or March 4. They are marked "Best Before: 07-AUG-2016." The recall was limited to 250 store locations in the three states.
"As soon as Starbucks was informed of this potential issue, the impacted product was removed from the 250 stores that potentially received it," the FDA said in a statement. "The scope of this issue is limited to these stores."
Listeria is a severe infection that is usually caused be eating contaminated food. It can be serious for the elderly, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever and muscle aches, which can sometimes be followed by diarrhea or other stomach issues. The organism that causes Listeria can also be very dangerous for pregnant women.
"Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women," the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website said.
The Listeria on the sandwiches was found on a contact surface within the facility that produces them, and both Starbucks and Progressive Gourmet are "working closely with FDA and the Massachusetts Department of Health and continues to investigate the source of the problem."
"As soon as we were made aware of a supplier issue with a specific lot of Sausage, Egg and Cheddar Breakfast sandwiches, we removed the impacted product from the select Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas area stores that carried it," a Starbucks spokesperson said. "The product itself has not tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. No other products are affected because of this issue."
Stabucks customers who bought the sandwich in the affected locations can take them back to the stores where they were purchased and will get a full refund for their troubles.
Zero illnesses due to the possible Listeria-tainted sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches have been reported.
