News last month that a person had died with a rare bacterial infection called listeriosis sparked concern among the public.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) described the outbreak of listeriosis, which is caused by the bacteria listeria monocytogenes, as “extensive”, with nine confirmed cases linked to it by the end of July.
The outbreak resulted in a “voluntary, precautionary recall” of 141 ready-meals produced by Ballymaguire Foods.
But in the weeks since, products other than ready-meals have been recalled in relation to listeria.
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Over the past three weeks, there have been recalls for various types of goats cheese, potted coriander, hummus, mixed leaves and spinach, and chicken basil pesto pasta.
The publicity around the bacteria understandably shook people’s confidence in the safety of food.
In a bid to reassure consumers, the FSAI issued a statement clarifying that the subsequent recalls were not related to the outbreak in ready-meals and that it carries out inspections of food production facilities.
Serious infection with listeriosis is “very rare”, the authority said, with an average of between 14 and 22 cases in Ireland annually.
[ What is listeriosis and its symptoms?Opens in new window ]
But why are we hearing so much about it?
Cormac Gahan, principal investigator at research centre APC Microbiome Ireland, and a professor in University College Cork’s schools of microbiology and pharmacy, said listeria was “ubiquitous” and often found in the environment, including in soil and plant matter.
“It’s the prevalence in the environment that’s the main concern. So keeping it out of the food chain is a big concern. There can be unintended consequences when processes go awry,” he said.
The bacteria is also “unusual”, he said, in that it grows very slowly when refrigerated. “So you need to use really good hygiene practices to keep it out of the food chain”.
But what is driving the increase in food recalls?
There is “no magic answer”, according to Prof Séamus Fanning, professor of food safety at University College Dublin (UCD), but there are a number of factors at play.
“We are able to detect it more often because we have an improved surveillance system. That’s down to the technological development over the past 20 or 30 years. Now, our toolbox is much better and we have much more accurate ways of identifying it,” he said.
It is a “tricky organism” to deal with, he said, due to the way in which it “genetically adapts”.
“So you find it in soil and water. It can then move into a situation where it contaminates a food-processing facility. And then there can be cross-contamination,” he explained.
“It can be difficult to get rid of it in a factory. If it raises its head, and there are positive [tests] then you must do a major, major clean.”
Prof Gahan believes another reason there has been an increase in recalls is due to the recent publicity around the listeriosis outbreak relating to ready-meals.
That, he said, is likely to have resulted in food manufacturers increasing their testing due to public discourse around the topic. “The more testing there is, the more recalls there will be,” he added.
Despite all the recent publicity, the two professors believe consumers can still be confident their food is safe.
They highlight the at-risk groups – such as older people, the immunocompromised or those who are pregnant – but said for most people it causes only flu-like symptoms that will resolve by itself.
“We also have strong regulatory and food safety systems. The food recalls could be viewed as a risk-reduction measure,” Prof Fanning said.
Prof Gahan agrees: “Ireland’s rates of infection are relatively low. We have good procedures in place.”
