Starbucks Breakfast Sandwiches Recalled Over Listeria Concerns

(RTTNews) - A food supplier to Starbucks Inc. (SBUX) has recalled pre-packaged sausage, egg and cheddar cheese on English muffin breakfast sandwiches from 250 Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) stores in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma, as the products have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Progressive Gourmet Inc., a Wilmington, Massachusetts-based supplier said it is recalling its 6 ounce packages of Sausage, Egg, and Cheddar Cheese on English Muffin breakfast sandwiches manufactured for Starbucks Coffee.

The product comes in a six-ounce, clear plastic labeled package marked with "Best Before: 07-AUG-2016" on the top. Progressive Gourmet noted that no other production runs of this product are impacted by this recall.

The company said it is recalling the products as they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Further, Progressive Gourmet noted that as soon as Starbucks was informed of this potential issue, the specialty coffee retailer removed the impacted product from its 250 stores that potentially received it.

The scope of this issue is limited to these stores. The recalled sandwiches were distributed to warehouses in Maryland, North Carolina, Texas and Louisiana.

The potential for contamination was noted after routine testing by Progressive Gourmet revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes on a contact surface within the production facility. However, no illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this product.

These potentially impacted sandwiches were possibly sold to consumers by select Starbucks stores in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma on March 3/and 4, 2016. The sandwiches may be heated at the store level for immediate consumption.

Progressive Gourmet said it is working closely with FDA as well as the Massachusetts Department of Health and continues to investigate the source of the problem.