Listeria in some meat products has killed 15 Danes and
sickened 38, according to the government’s State Serum Institute.
The outbreak has been traced to a popular deli
meat called rullepølse.
Jørn A. Rullepølser, the company that produced
the product, has been shut down.
A total of 30 products – including variations
of rullepølse, salami and hot dogs – also have been recalled in the wake of the
outbreak.
The outbreak is reminiscent of the 22 people
who died in 2008 of Listeria in meat marketed by Maple Leaf Foods Inc. from its
processing plant in Toronto.
In that case, too, the plant was shut down and
it took weeks for federal and company inspectors to learn that Listeria was
lurking inside meat-slicing equipment.
After that discovery, the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency changed its requirements for equipment sanitation, including
taking the equipment apart to clean and disinfect all interior parts.
