Tons of meat recalled in Germany after suspected listeria outbreak

Sausage and ham products from the south-German firm Sieber have been recalled due to a possible listeria contamination. The bacteria have been known to cause fever and may cause miscarriages in extreme cases.

Meat contaminated with the bacteria listeria produced by the southern German company Sieber was pulled from distribution, reported the German newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" on Monday.

"Potentially, the ham and sausage products are contaminated with listeria and hazardous to heath," Germany's ministry of justice and consumer protection said in a press release late on Friday night.

The bacterium Listeria monocytogenes causes listeriosis, a disease which presents with flu-like symptoms but is especially dangerous for pregnant women, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.

The Robert-Koch Institute, the German government's scientific institution in biomedicine, linked the company's "Original Bavarian Wammerl" - a regional pork belly specialty - to a listeriosis outbreak in southern Germany.

The outbreak began in 2012 and has continued until today, read the ministry's statement.

After recently probing Sieber's current range of meat products, five positive cases of listeria were uncovered in different sausage products.

"In some individual cases, listeria was found in our company's ham and sausage products," confirmed the firm on its homepage, saying its products had been removed.

Not only supermarkets have had the meat pulled. On their website, the firm says its meat is also served at the Munich's international airport as well as Munich's Olympic park..................

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