Stop & Shop reopens delis after temporary closure due to listeria outbreak

NEW YORK - Stop & Shop temporarily closed all of its delis Friday for a deep cleaning following a federal recall of Boar's Head products spurred by a recent outbreak of listeria.

"Stop & Shop is alerting shoppers that Boar’s Head has recalled select deli meat products due to the potential presence of Listeria. Stop & Shop has removed all impacted products from sale both in stores and online," the grocery store chain said in a statement.

At least two people, including a person from New Jersey, have died and more than two dozen were hospitalized in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning linked to meat sliced at grocery store deli counters, federal health officials.

At least 34 people in a dozen states have gotten sick, though the largest number, seven, were in New York, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The people who died were from Illinois and New Jersey. Samples were collected from May 29 to July 5 and so far, all of the people known to be part of the outbreak have been hospitalized.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Boar's Head is recalling roughly 207,500 pounds of products that may have been contaminated with listeria bacteria.

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Affected products include:

• "Boar's Head Strassburger Brand Liverwurst MADE IN VIRGINIA" sliced in the deli and purchased July 26 and earlier
• "Boar's Head VIRGINIA HAM OLD FASHIONED HAM" sliced in the deli and purchased July 26 and earlier
• "Boar's Head ITALIAN CAPPY STYLE HAM" sliced in the deli and purchased July 26 and earlier
• "Boar's Head EXTRA HOT ITALIAN CAPPY STYLE HAM" sliced in the deli and purchased July 26 and earlier
• "Boar's Head BOLOGNA" sliced in the deli and purchased July 26 and earlier
• "Boar's Head BEEF SALAMI" sliced in the deli and purchased July 26 and earlier
• "Boar's Head GARLIC BOLOGNA" sliced in the deli and purchased July 26 and earlier
• "Boar's Head BEEF BOLOGNA" sliced in the deli and purchased July 26 and earlier

According to the Department of Agriculture, listeria can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. 

In people who are pregnant, it can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn.