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Recall alert: Listeria risk prompts recall of BBQ, some sold to North Carolina schools

NASHVILLE — Nashville-based Nick’s Famous Bar-B-Q on Friday recalled roughly 3,140 pounds of ready-to-eat smoked pork barbecue amid concerns of potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

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According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the issue was discovered during an assessment of the Tennessee establishment’s production records and affects the following products:

  • Nick’s FAMOUS Hickory Smoked Pork Bar-B-Q: 20-lb. boxes with a case code of 23452 and a “use by date” of September 2022.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of the recalled products that were distributed to institutions, including some North Carolina schools, the recall notice stated.

While the product was distributed to schools, it resulted from a commercial sale and was not part of food provided by the USDA for the National School Lunch Program, FSIS stated.

The recalled products were produced on Sept. 7-8, packaged on Sept. 8 and bear establishment number “EST. 17863″ inside the USDA mark of inspection.

The bacterium can cause listeriosis, which can result in serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly and others with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.

Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, listeriosis can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women, the recall notice stated.

FSIS, concerned that some of the affected products may be stored in institutions’ freezers, advised consumers that they should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase immediately.