In December, the CDC discovered a multistate outbreak of Listeria food poisoning. The CDC then alerted health officials at the states with outbreak victims. One of these states was Minnesota.
The Minnesota health officials had already identified 4 people sickened by the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes and had interviewed outbreak patients and their families. Other states had also interviewed outbreak patients, and prepackaged caramel apples were quickly suspected as the source of the outbreak. Minnesota health officials quickly did new interviews and found that all of the Listeria patients in MN had also eaten prepackaged caramel apples before getting sick.
Apples contaminated with Listeria bacteria were dipped in caramel, packaged and sold to consumers. To date, 32 people in 11 states have been sickened. In Minnesota, 2 people died and 2 others survived.
The Minnesota investigation Department of Agriculture was the first to identify brand names of caramel apples linked to the outbreak, specifically Kitchen Cravings and Carnival brand caramel apples sold at Cub Foods, Kwik Trip, and Mike’s Discount Foods. Several days later, Happy Apple Company recalled caramel apples because the companies apples had been linked to illnesses in other states. The recall included products sold in Minnesota, but to date, no Minnesota cases have been linked to Happy Apple brand caramel apples.
Happy Apples were sold at various stores in several states, including Safeway grocery stores, according to one lawsuit, and Walmart and Sam’s Club, according to a Wal-Mart recall announcement. They may also have been sold at other stores in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
Bidart Brothers, a California company, is the only processor that has been named by any health officials as the probable source of the contaminated apples.