By Travis Khachatoorian / KTUU | Posted: Thu 4:50 PM, Jun 23, 2016 | Updated: Thu 5:45 PM, Jun 23, 2016
ANCHORAGE (KTUU) A dozen food recalls have affected Alaska this month, forcing grocery stores across the state to pull hundreds of items off their shelves.
According to the Alaska Food Safety and Sanitation Program, the surge hitting shelves this summer surrounds three major recalls hitting the state all in June; including listeria found in frozen vegetables and sunflower seeds, flour contaminated with peanuts, and packaged products arriving to grocery stores already spoiled.
State food safety expert Lorinda Lhotka said because more than 95 percent of Alaska's food comes from out of state factories and farms, many national recalls end up affecting Alaska.
The most widespread of the three recalls surrounds the potential for listeria contamination.
“Three states have been affected, 8 people have been hospitalized and there's been two deaths, and we were able to determine that [products recalled for listeria] did come to Alaska,” said Lhotka.
The Alaska Office of Epidemiology said although listeria can be deadly, it's very uncommon in Alaska. In 2015, there was only one documented case of listeria in the state, with no documented deaths.
State officials said experts are monitoring the recalls closely, but the determined level of threat has not yet required a door-to-door inspection to make sure grocery stores have pulled all potentially contaminated products off their shelves. According to Mike Cooper with the Public Health Infectious Disease Program, local grocery stores typically do a good job of clearing the shelves themselves.
