Biscuits Recalled At Food Lion, Lowes For Possible Listeria Contamination

Select frozen Buttermilk Biscuit Dough sold at Food Lion, Lowes Foods, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery retailers were voluntarily recalled Friday for possible contamination of Listeria monocytogenes, an infection-causing bacteria. While no illnesses have been reported in connection with the buttermilk biscuits at this time, consumers are recommended not to eat the recalled items.

T. Marzetti Company, a food manufacturer best known for its Jack Daniel's Mustard and Girad's Salad Dressing, recalled its buttermilk biscuits as a precautionary measure. So far, the product has been distributed in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

"Although these products are not ready-to-eat items and have baking instructions which, if followed, will reduce consumer risk, there remains some risk that the mishandling of this product prior to or without adequate baking may cause illness," T. Marzetti Company wrote in a statement Friday. "We are working in coordination with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and our supplier on this recall."

All affected retailers, such as Food Lion, have been informed that they will need to pull the potentially contaminated products from store shelves.

"Food Lion is voluntarily recalling all code dates of its Food Lion brand Homestyle Buttermilk Biscuits in an abundance of caution after being notified by its manufacturer today the product may contain listeria monocytogenes," Food Lion wrote in a statement Friday. "While there have been no reports of illnesses to date, the product is being recalled as a precautionary measure after T. Marzetti Company, the manufacturer of the product, has indicated a possible contamination issue with Listeria monocytogenes at one of its plants."

Food Lion claimed to have removed the possibly contaminated products from its shelves and urged for customers that purchased the item to return it promptly.

This announcement comes on the heels of similar news confirmed in mid-December 2017 by food distributor Jack Brown Produce, which claimed that apples sold by grocers Aldi and Kroger may have been contaminated with Listeria. Jack Brown Produce said no illnesses have been reported in connection with the recall, but its taking precautionary measures after discovering possible listeria in a procedural apple sample from Nyblad Orchards' facility, WANE reported.

Food containing Listeria can result in listeriosis, a food poisoning illness that can bring about serious and sometimes fatal infections. Young children, elderly people and individuals with weakened immune systems are most susceptible to the foodborne disease. It can also result in miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women.

Nearly 1,600 people suffer from listeriosis in the United States annually. Common symptoms include fever, nausea, headache and diarrhea, among others.