Hard-Boiled Egg Recall Expands to Products Sold at Walmart, Trader Joe’s After Deadly Listeria Outbreak

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A hard-boiled egg recall has expanded to products sold at Walmart and Trader Joe’s following a deadly listeria outbreak.

Almark Foods broadened the recall to include all hard-boiled egg products manufactured at its facility in Gainesville, Georgia, due to potential listeria contamination.

The listeria outbreak has been linked to seven cases, including one death and four hospitalizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The outbreak is contained to five states, but the recalled products were shipped nationwide.

No cases have been reported in California.

The expanded recall includes popular brands and organic fare, like Egglands Best, Pete & Gerry’s and Vital Farms.

Trader Joe’s egg and potato salads were recalled, too, because Almark Foods provided broken egg whites used in their production. A Trader Joe’s spokeswoman told KTLA that the recall does not affect stores in California.

Affected products have a “Best If Used By” date that starts with a G, which means the product was manufactured at the Gainesville facility and should not be consumed, the Food and Drug Administration said. The Trader Joe’s spokeswoman said that “best by” information did not pertain to the company’s products.

Almark Foods has temporarily halted production at the Georgia plant in the meantime, though its plants in North Carolina and Arizona are operating at “heightened capacity” to meet consumer needs, the company’s president, Don Stoner, told CNN.

“We are working diligently in cooperation with the FDA to restore operations at our Gainesville plant so that we can continue providing safe, healthy, and affordable eggs to the market from that facility,” he said. “We apologize for this extremely rare safety lapse and we’re making every effort to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

People at high risk of infection should use caution

The listeria bacteria primarily infects pregnant women, older adults, people with weakened immune systems and newborns, the CDC said. Its symptoms are similar to other food-borne illnesses, including fever and diarrhea, but in severe cases, it can cause miscarriages or stillbirths in pregnant women.

Until the CDC knows more about the outbreak, it recommends high-risk consumers throw out any store-bought hard-boiled eggs or products containing them, like egg salad.

Do not eat those products, the CDC advised. Instead, throw them out and sanitize the places where they were stored.

Before you eat something that may contain hard-boiled eggs at a restaurant or store, check with mangers to make sure the eggs are not from Almark Foods. If they do contain Almark eggs or the venue isn’t sure, don’t buy or order the product, the health agency advised.