Three dead after listeria outbreak linked to NHS desserts

Three people have died after contracting serious food poisoning thought to be linked to hospital desserts.

Two others were hospitalised after becoming ill. All five patients had underlying health conditions. One of the deaths is confirmed to have been caused directly by listeria.

An investigation has been launched into the cases, which are thought to be linked to chocolate desserts supplied to the NHS.

Now, the Food Standards Agency has issued an alert over products that could be contaminated with listeria, according to Food Safety News.

It is understood that the chocolate mousse was supplied to the NHS by Cool Delight Desserts.

The desserts potentially linked to the illness are ‘currently being removed from the supply chain,’ Tina Potter, the head of incidents at the FSA, said.

It affects frozen, ready-to-eat desserts by Cool Delight Desserts after listeria monocytogenes was found twice in chocolate and vanilla mousse and strawberry and vanilla mousse.

The bacteria samples were found in February at an NHS hospital in the South West of England as part of routine surveillance, the outlet reports.

All pack sizes, best-before dates and batch codes of Cool Delight Desserts ice cream, ice cream rolls, mousses and yoghurts are affected.

The patients were identified between May and December last year.

Listeria was confirmed as a cause of death in one of the cases.

Two were in Yorkshire and Humber, one each in the North West of England and West Midlands, and one in Wales.

The patients had underlying health conditions and they were taken to hospital.

Their ages ranged from 68 to 89, according to Food Safety News.

Potter said the watchdog was working with the UKHSA and authorities to ‘identify the cause of an outbreak of listeria linked to desserts served in NHS Trusts and other health care settings.’

She continued: ‘The desserts potentially linked to the reported illness are currently being removed from the supply chain.

‘The food business that supplied the products are undertaking a product withdrawal, as a precaution. The cause of contamination is being investigated, and the local authority is working with the business to ensure appropriate action is taken to protect public health.’

Dr Gauri Godbole, Deputy Director for Gastrointestinal Infections, Food Safety and One Health at UKHSA, told Metro: ‘We are investigating a small number of cases of listeria. The cause of the outbreak isn’t confirmed yet.

‘However, our laboratory testing has identified a potential link to a particular type of dessert, which is not available from retailers but is served in some NHS Trusts.

‘Working with the Food Standards Agency, on a precautionary basis, we have advised NHS Trusts and those providing care to vulnerable people to stop serving these desserts while investigations are underway.’

We have approached Cool Delight Desserts for a comment.

Last month, the FSA recalled supermarket cheese because of a potential contamination.

A serious outbreak spread across 13 US states and was linked to three deaths last summer.

There were 43 reported cases of listeria linked to deli meats.