On December 19, 2014, the CDC issued an official statement mandating the recall of caramel apples. Since the first Wednesday of the new year, the consumption of caramel apples, regarded as different from candied apples in the marketplace, has been responsible for 32 cases of infection across 11 different states. Six of the infected people have died. Currently, Missouri and New Mexico have the highest number of cases.
Image Source: S. Lowry/Univ Ulster.
In all of the cases people have displayed symptoms of Listeriosis, a serious foodborne disease with a mortality rate ranging from 21-24%. These symptoms include muscle aches, fever, headaches, a stiff neck, balance loss, and convulsions. The illness can incubate for three days to over two months, and symptoms may harry a patient for weeks. Pregnant women, immunocompromised adults, and persons at age extremes are most susceptible to contracting the illness; however, adults of average health have also contracted the illness in the past. It is a bit surprising that the disease makes a comeback in produce as the most recent outbreak from 2009-2011 was carried in pasteurized milk and certain cheeses.
For comparison’s sake, almost 1.4 million cases of salmonella—named after Dr. Salmon, a US veterinary surgeon and not the fish—occur yearly in the USA, with about 500-1k resulting in death.
Is this disease an occasion to worry? Maybe, if you have consumed a caramelized apple recently. Listeriosis is but a part of a larger palette of infectious foodborne illnesses that are treatable by antibiotics. However, if this most recent outbreak shows resistance to most commonly used antibiotics, then healthcare officials have a problem on their hands.
Featured Image: Caramel Apples by Neil Conway.
