And also from the Wall Street Journal, Nov 6, 1998:
Business Focus
Winn-Dixie Temporarily Closes
Processing Plant After Recalls
By ROBERT BERNER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. temporarily closed a Florida meat-processing plant because of possible
bacterial contamination.
On Wednesday, the supermarket chain, based in Jacksonville, Fla., voluntarily recalled 192,553
pounds of sliced luncheon meats made by the plant, after the U.S. Agriculture Department found
two packages of meats to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, said Winn-Dixie
spokesman Mickey Clerc. The meats are sold under the brand names WD and Madison, the name
of the Florida town where the plant is located.
It was the third product recall from the Dixie Packers Inc. plant in less than three weeks. Last
week, Winn-Dixie recalled more than 1.5 million pounds of hot dogs from the plant because of
possible Listeria contamination. A week earlier, it recalled 108,000 pounds of hot dogs for the
same reason. Those moves were voluntary, but initiated by the USDA after it found some hot
dogs were contaminated.
Listeria may cause only short-term symptoms in healthy individuals, such as high fever, severe
headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. However, the organism can cause serious
and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people or those with weakened
immune systems. Listeria infection can also cause miscarriages.
A spokeswoman for the USDA said there have been no reports of illness associated with products
that have been recalled. The spokeswoman said the agency is working with the plant to find the
source of the problem. Mr. Clerc said he didn't know how long the plant would be shut or what the
total cost of the recalls would be.
The Dixie Packers plant mainly supplies private-label hot dogs, as well as luncheon and smoked
meats, to Winn-Dixie's 1,185 stores. |
