No Listeria in US apples, according to embassy

THE UNITED STATES Embassy yesterday clarified that no fresh apples grown in the US have been linked to the outbreak of Listeria, a bacterium that carries a rare and potentially fatal disease.

This comes following the Bureau of Plant Industry’s announcement that is has tightened measures against the entry in to the country of American apples that are contaminated with Listeria.

The BPI was referring to listeriosis, which has symptoms similar to those of the flu, as well as diarrhea and meningitis.

The Department of Agriculture-supervised agency said it was acting on advise from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which had earlier recalled an inbound shipment of California apple packer Bidart Brothers after being alerted by the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) about the cargo.

According to the US Embassy, the recall of fresh Gala and Granny Smith apples by the Bidart Brothers packing house in California was voluntary.

“Apples from all sources other than the Bidart packing house are not included in the voluntary recall,” the embassy said.

Citing information from the US FDA, the embassy said the harmful bacteria has thus far only been linked to commercially produced, prepackaged caramel apples—made from California-grown apples of Bidart Brothers.

Further, the US FDA has also stated that the growing season for these types of apples has ended and the firm’s last shipping date was Dec. 2, 2014.  Thus, Bidart Bros is no longer shipping apples.

“Fresh apples provide many health benefits which account for their popularity in the Philippines,” the embassy said.