By Jed Lanyon
Health authorities have closed commercial caterer I Cook Foods while they investigate a listeriosis death.
An elderly woman died in an eastern suburbs private hospital on 4 February and was diagnosed with listeriosis, an illness commonly associated with food contamination.
I Cook Foods of Dandenong South provided meals to the private hospital involved.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Friday 22 February that it had closed I Cook Foods overnight with Greater Dandenong Council.
Acting chief health officer Dr Brett Sutton said testing on multiple food product samples collected at the facility returned six positive samples for listeria.
A thorough clean has been completed but the facility will not reopen until further testing and improvements are made.
DHHS has contacted facilities the company supplies, including private hospitals, aged care centres and Meals on Wheels services, mostly in the eastern suburbs.
The company does not supply any public hospitals.
Listeria are a bacteria that can cause serious illness and in some cases death, particularly in vulnerable people.
Symptoms of listeriosis include muscle aches, fever, nausea and diarrhea.
In Australia each year about 150 people are hospitalised with listeriosis and about 15 people die.
People at greater risk from listeriosis include pregnant women, their unborn and newborn babies, the elderly and other people whose immune systems have been weakened by illness or drugs.
Eating foods contaminated with listeria is the most common way of contracting the illness.
The bacteria are common in the environment and can contaminate different types of food.
Listeria is tolerant to low temperatures so it can grow in food even if it is stored in the refrigerator.
There have been two cases of listeriosis so far this year, compared to nine for the same period in 2018. Victoria had 27 cases of listeriosis for the 2018 calendar year.
