White Castle recalls frozen burgers and cheeseburgers over 'possible presence of Listeria'

Kelly Tyko | USA TODAY

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White Castle is voluntarily recalling select boxes of frozen sandwiches "for the possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes."

According to the notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration website, the recall includes a limited number of frozen six-pack cheeseburgers, six-pack hamburgers, six-pack jalapeno cheeseburgers, 16-pack hamburgers and 16-pack cheeseburgers.

The recalled products have "best-by dates" ranging from Aug. 4, 2020, to Aug. 17, 2020, according to the notice. Products with these dates are being removed from stores, according to the notice.

There have been no reported illnesses from the products to date, the notice states, noting White Castle products with best-by dates before or after are not included in the recall.

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A full list of the affected products with lot codes and dates is listed at www.fda.gov.

"Of all the products we are recalling – none tested positive for listeria – but a later production date did – that’s why we did this on a voluntary basis to make certain we were acting quickly with an abundance of caution," White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson told USA TODAY. "In total, the recall impacts about 72,000 packages of our frozen sandwiches. To put that in perspective, that’s about 0.1% of our annual production."

Richardson said many of the products were pulled before they could be sold, and it's estimated only "about 10% of these packages or 7,200 or less ever made it to retail shelves."

The company said in its statement that a sample tested by a third-party laboratory of its frozen sandwiches from one manufacturing facility "showed a presence of Listeria monocytogenes halting any shipment of product to customers."

"Since the problem was identified White Castle has not shipped any product from this facility to customers. Following rigorous safety testing protocols, all impacted production runs have been identified for destruction," the company said in the statement. "White Castle has maintained complete control of all product produced at the facility since the first indication of a problem."

Richardson said the products were shipped to 22 states, including: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

White Castle is urging consumers who have purchased the recalled products to dispose of them or return them. For more information, call 1-800-843-2728.

Risks of exposure to listeria

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to listeria bacteria can cause serious or fatal infections in children, elderly people and those with compromised immune systems. It also can cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women. Healthy individuals may experience high fever, severe headaches, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko