Anyone with questions about the sausage recall and other food safety issues may contact the USDA Meat and Poultry hotline at (888) 674-6854. Help is available in English and Spanish.

For more information about listeriosis and how it can be prevented, visit the Web site for the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additional information about the recall, including details about the affected products, can be found on the Web site of the national Food Safety and Inspection Service.

McALLEN — Several different kinds of frozen smoked sausage rolls have vanished from H.E.B. shelves as part of a precautionary recall.

On Friday, Double B Foods Inc. ordered a 12-state recall of kolaches, a pastry-wrapped sausage, amid concern they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a type of bacteria that can survive in soil, water, plants, animals and people.

No customers reported illnesses due to the sausages, but Double B had reason to suspect contamination of up to 98,000 pounds of sausage meat, according to a statement from the company, whose prepared foods division is based in Meridian, Texas.

The recall affects grocery chains from New York to the Rio Grande Valley. On Saturday, many local H.E.B. shoppers knew little of the recall. But some said they trust food inspectors to keep them safe.

Gloria Ramirez often shops at the H.E.B. at the intersection of North 10th Street and Trenton Road. She said she pays attention to recalls, but she rarely alters her shopping patterns.

“I trust the stores,” Ramirez said. “I’ve never gotten sick from anything here.”

Double B officials say their company stopped most of the potentially tainted product from leaving distributors, meaning the items likely wouldn’t make it to store shelves.

In-plant testing revealed Listeria in a batch of sausage produced between Oct. 5 and Nov. 6. If consumed, the bacteria can lead to listeriosis, an uncommon but occasionally fatal disease.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Web site describes listeriosis as rarely fatal for healthy adults. However, the disease can cause serious infections for infants and elderly people. It can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths. Symptoms of the disease include fever, neck stiffness and nausea.

In Texas, most listeriosis cases occur due to people eating unpasteurized queso fresco bought at street markets in Mexico and brought into the United States for personal consumption, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Of the 37 listeriosis cases linked to queso fresco that were reported in the state from 2003 through mid-May this year, 22 were in Hidalgo and Cameron counties

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there are 2,500 cases of listeriosis each year in the United States, resulting in about 500 deaths.

Carefully following normal food safety precautions can significantly lower the chance of infection. Listeria on foods can be destroyed with thorough cooking.

____

Zack Quaintance covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.