What is listeria and why is it shutting down Penn Dutch stores?

Sep. 18--Ending a decades-long run in South Florida, the Penn Dutch supermarket announced it would be closing its Margate and Hollywood locations after inspectors found the presence of listeria at both of them.

That could mean hundreds of job losses -- the stores have about 300 employees -- and fans of the grocery chain were in shock that they wouldn't have their local choice in supermarkets anymore.

But we've all seen headlines about e. coli cropping up at businesses now and then, and they usually turn it around after passing another inspection. So what is listeria, and why is it ending Penn Dutch?

What is listeria?

Listeria is short for Listeria monocytogenes. It's a food-born bacteria that, under a microscope, looks a bit like a gelcap with a couple of long hairs on each end. Those whip-like structures, called flagella, allow the bacteria to move around.

How does listeria end up in places like Penn Dutch?

The bacteria usually starts in animals and makes its way elsewhere through soil and water or through raw foods such as unpasteurized milk. How exactly it wound up at both Penn Dutch locations is unclear.

Why is it such a problem?

For most people, it's not. But in the elderly, children, people with compromised immune systems and, especially, pregnant women, the bacteria can develop into an infection called listeriosis.

Is this like food poisoning?

Not really. It's in the same ballpark as things like e. coli in that it's usually introduced into the body by eating tainted food, but listeria and e. coli aren't at all in the same league. According to the Centers for Disease Control, listeriosis has about a 20 percent fatality rate because it can lead to meningitis and encephalitis. Pregnant women are about ten times as likely to get the disease as others, and they're unlikely to die from it, but they can pass the disease on to the fetus, resulting in stillbirths, miscarriages and severe infections in newborns.

What are the symptoms of listeriosis?

For most people, listeria will cause no more than gastrointestinal distress. But for those who develop a full-blown case of listeriosis, the symptoms are flu-like, including fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea. In susceptible people, the disease can then attack the nervous system, leading to headaches, confusion, loss of balance and even convulsions. Finally, the disease can reach the brain, where it causes inflammation of the membrane around the brain (meningitis) or the brain itself (encephalitis).

What foods do consumers need to look out for?

Wide-scale listeria contamination is uncommon. But previous outbreaks have come from deli meats, soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk, frozen vegetables, and even ice cream. Both Publix and Blue Bell had to recall their cookie dough ice creams in 2016 after potential listeria contamination on the part of the cookie dough supplier. And that came after Blue Bell recalled all of its ice creams the year before after listeria contamination. Perhaps the most notable food recall occurred in 2002 when Wampler Foods, a division of Pilgrim's Pride, recalled 27 million pounds of poultry products over a listeria outbreak, the largest such recall in the history of the Department of Agriculture at that time.

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