A recall of nuts that could be contaminated with listeria has been traced to a California plant, and a small number of those nuts made their way to consumers, John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. said Wednesday in a filing with federal securities regulators.
Elgin-based Sanfilippo, best known for its Fischer nuts, on Friday issued a voluntary recall of walnuts and nut toppings sold to retailers under its Baking Classics brand in 10 states, including Illinois and Indiana. The recall affects walnut halves and pieces in 16-ounce bags, and nut topping packaged in 2-ounce bags.
Listeria monocytogenes is bacterium that causes listeriosis, a relatively rare but potentially fatal disease. In the United States, an estimated 2,500 people annually contract the disease by eating food contaminated with listeria bacteria, and about 20 percent of them die, according to the Centers for Disease Control.