Editor’s Note: The last sentence in the university’s statement was originally misquoted and meant to read, “We have no indication that the affected meat was served to students.”
On Thursday, Oct. 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that BrucePac’s ready-to-eat meat was recalled due to possible Listeria, and the Quad made the list.
The University was informed of the possible outbreak before the list was announced. However, the university did not make a statement until Monday, Oct. 21.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Listeria is a bacterial infection that can contaminate food products from soil, water, and animal feces.
It can take up to 30 days for the symptoms of Listeria to appear. The symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, muscle aches and diarrhea. If Listeria progresses to the nervous system, symptoms can also include headache, stiff neck, confusion, convolutions and loss of balance.
“The health and safety of Ferris State University students, employees and community members is our top priority,” The University wrote in its statement. “The university’s dining team became aware of a recall of some meat products from a food vendor on Oct. 10, followed by a message from the Michigan Department of Education on Friday that some of the potentially affected products were shipped to the university. The products were immediately pulled and discarded. Ferris State typically uses such prepared meats in the grab-and-go sections of the Quad dining hall and the Market store. We have no indication that the affected meat was served to students.”
Mechanical engineering freshman Regan Keesler felt the announcement was lacking details.
“It’s a little concerning,” Keesler said. “I would say, most of my diet all meat, chicken, that kind of thing. They didn’t specify, what it was or where it came from. The announcement I got this morning was very vague.”
Listeria commonly affects those who are pregnant, 65 years or older and who have weak immune systems.
Environmental biology junior Lex Bruglio was thankful that the announcement was made.
“I thought it was like we had it here, like they actually were giving out food, because I feel like that’s just something. It seems like they pulled it away before it actually got to the students,” Bruglio said. “As long as they did that, I don’t have to see what the harm is. It’s kind of not their fault that they were given bad need, and at least they pulled it away for students.”
At the time of this article, the university has found no indication that students had eaten the affected products.