Deli Meat Is Responsible for Multi-State Listeria Outbreak, Says CDC

updated Feb 24, 2021

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Close-up of various cold cuts on the serving tray - prosciutto, sausages, ham, salami etc. — Credit: GoodLifeStudio | Getty Images

Eating guidelines for pregnant women often include avoiding lunch meats, and if you’ve ever wondered why, this week’s news is ready to help you understand. 10 people up and down the East Coast have fallen ill and had to be hospitalized — in Florida, Massachusetts, and New York — and the suspected cause is deli meat, reports CNN. A person in Florida has even died from the outbreak, which is not yet tied to a specific producer or even one product, though the current reporting says that it was an Italian-style meat, like salami, mortadella, or prosciutto.

Deli meat has long ranked as one of the highest-risk foods for listeria, despite various safety efforts over the years. In particular, retail-sliced, as opposed to pre-packaged, meats have been shown to be more likely to sicken people. Listeria is an easily-spread bacteria, so it tends to spread across products or equipment at deli counters.

For most healthy populations, the bacteria will cause only mild illness, beginning a week after the food is eaten, and up to four weeks. Many instances don’t even get diagnosed, because it just causes the kind of diarrhea and fever any standard type of foodborne illness would. But in vulnerable populations — including the elderly, very young, and especially pregnant people — it can spread beyond the gut and cause significant damage and even death. For many people the symptoms can include headaches, stiffness of the neck, confusion, and convulsions. For pregnant people, it often causes fever and flu-like symptoms, but can also lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or infections of the newborn.

In the current outbreak, which dates back to the beginning of August, the people sickened are mostly women, with a median age of 81, though one of the ill is only 40.

The CDC currently recommends that those at risk for listeria (pregnant, over 65, or with a weakened immune system) avoid eating deli meat unless it’s cooked to over 165°F or steaming right before serving.