Caramel apples linked to fatal listeria outbreak

At least seven people have died after eating caramel apples that may have been infected with Listeria monocytogenes.

Some 32 people have become infected with the deadly bacterium in 11 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of those people who got sick 31 were hospitalized and seven deaths have been reported. A press release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that “listeriosis contributed to at least three of these deaths.”

On January 6, Bidart Bros. expanded its voluntary recall to include Gala apples shipped from the company’s Shafter, California, packing facility in 2014.

There are about 1,600 cases of listeriosis reported in the United States every year. This kind of infection kills about 260 people annually, according to the CDC.

CNN