14 Things You Never Knew About Listeria

Today, we are familiar with E.coli and salmonella, but you can get listeria as well. Listeria is a bacterium called listeria monocytes. Certain foods contain the bacteria, including hot dogs, deli meats whether it’s over-the-counter or prepackaged, soft cheeses, and seafood that is smoked.

Products that are made with unpasteurized or raw milk could have listeria in them. Most of the time healthy individuals won’t have symptoms from eating food that contains the bacteria. If healthy individuals do have any symptoms, the symptoms are mild. They may not even pay any attention to the symptoms. If you have never had listeriosis, there are eight things you never knew about listeria. Once you know these eight things, you’ll want to be extremely careful about how you purchase food the next time you go grocery shopping. As you will see that some people are more immune to getting the bacteria than others.

1. Pregnant women

have a higher risk of getting listeria. They tend to eat different kinds of foods that could be contaminated. Pregnant women don’t have a preference on what types of foods they eat or don’t eat, especially if they’re not watching what they put into their bodies. When pregnant women do get listeria, they can have a miscarriage, have a premature delivery, stillborn child, or the newborn could have life-threatening symptoms.

Most pregnant women have flu-like symptoms when she gets listeria. It’s important that pregnant women throw away expired food and not eat food that has been in the refrigerator for too long. Another good idea is to buy smaller portions so that you don’t have to refrigerate it. Also, try to stay away from dairy products since that’s where listeria lurks. To be on the safe side, pregnant women will do better by eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.