CFS urges public not to consume a kind of French prepackaged ham suspected to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (February 15) urged the public not to consume a kind of prepackaged ham imported from France due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogen. The trade should stop using or selling the product concerned immediately if they possess it.

Details of the product are as follows:

Product name: Jambon Superieur Fines tranches (4 thin Slices Ham)
Brand: Casino
Place of origin: France
Importer: PARKnSHOP (HK) Limited
Net weight: 120 grams per pack
Use-by date: February 13, 2018

"The Centre, through its Food Incident Surveillance System, noted a notice issued by the French authorities concerned that certain batches of  prepackaged ham might have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and are being recalled. The CFS immediately contacted major local importers and retailers for follow-up. Preliminary investigation found that PARKnSHOP (HK) Limited had imported the above affected batch of the product into Hong Kong," a spokesman for the CFS said.

The spokesman said that according to the information provided by the importer, it had imported three batches of the affected product. Besides the above affected batch, the other two batches have the use-by dates of February 12, 2018, and February 28, 2018, which were for sale at its chain supermarkets. For the sake of prudence, the importer has already stopped sale and removed from shelves all three batches of the product concerned and has initiated a recall according to the CFS' instruction. Members of the public may call the importer's hotline at 2606 8658 during office hours for enquiries about the recall.

Listeria monocytogenes can be easily destroyed by cooking but can survive and multiply at refrigerator temperature. Most healthy individuals do not develop symptoms or only have mild symptoms like fever, muscle pain, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea when infected. However, severe complications such as septicemia, meningitis or even death may occur in newborns, the elderly and those with a weaker immune system. Although infected pregnant women may just experience mild symptoms generally, the infection of Listeria monocytogenes may cause miscarriage, infant death, preterm birth, or severe infection in newborns," the spokesman said.

The spokesman urged consumers not to consume the affected product. The trade should also stop using or selling the product concerned immediately if they possess it.

The CFS will alert the trade to the incident, and will continue to closely monitor the case and take appropriate follow-up action. Investigation is ongoing.
 
Ends/Thursday, February 15, 2018