Danish government orders full report on listeria outbreak
The DVFA ordered the closure of the Danish food company Jørn A Rullepølser A/S on 7 August 2014. The DVFA said that the strain of listeria detected had been traced to sliced and sandwich meat at the company’s factory in Hedehusene. Jørn A Rullepølser A/S is one of Denmark’s leading supplier of ham, beef and chicken-based sandwiches and pork sausages.
"We want a full explanation for how and why this outbreak has occurred and what was done to control it. Twelve lives have been lost, so we need to know the facts. My ministry is taking a direct interest, and we will examine the content of the report very carefully," Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s Minister of Food, Agriculture, told a meeting of the Danish parliament’s Standing Committee on Health And Safety on 14 August.
The Jørn A Rullepølser in Hedehusene initially came under investigation following a DVFA audit in May 2014, in the wake of a new outbreak of the listeria infection. DVFA records show that the same factory was linked to at least one case of listeria in infected beef brisket, in 1999.
On 14 August, the DVFA increased its list of supermarkets that may have sold infected sliced meat products. The list now includes retailers Bilka and Føtex, as well as the Salling department store’s food department.
The list already included the Norwegian owned retail store chain Rema 1000, the DFDS Seaways cruise line, Odense University Hospital, supermarket chains Superbest and Eurospar, as well as in some Spar franchise stores. The detection resulted in the recall of a total of 30 products, including variations of the Danish meat sausage rullepølse, salami and hot dogs. Apart from the 12 deaths, some 70 people have fallen ill due to the listeria infection in the past year.
