Shopsy's deli sandwich recalled over listeria concerns

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Toronto-based Royal Touch Foods are warning people not to eat Shopsy's deli-fresh Classic Reuben sandwiches because they may be contaminated with listeria.

The sandwich is being pulled because it contains sliced corned beef —- one of the deli meat products that was also recalled by Maple Leaf Foods over concerns about the bacterial infection.

A small number of the Shopsy's sandwiches were sold at six Shoppers Drug Mart locations in Toronto and at Bloor Superfresh Mart in the city, the agency said.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of the sandwiches.

The affected product is in a 180-g package bearing UPC 7 76393 17001 8 and best-before dates of Aug. 22 and Aug. 24.

Scientists continue to investigate a Maple Leaf plant in the city where they believe meat products became infected with listeria, leading to a nationwide recall.

Three deaths in Ontario since June have been linked to listeriosis. On Friday, officials confirmed a 64-year-old man on Vancouver Island who died in late July had the same strain of listeria blamed for the earlier deaths.

A total of 17 cases of listeria have cropped up across Canada this summer, including 13 in Ontario, two in B.C., one in Saskatchewan and one in Quebec.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency found listeria bacteria at a Maple Leaf Foods meat plant in question but is waiting for definitive test results to determine whether it is the same strain as the one responsible for the outbreak.

Listeriosis, which can cause high fever, severe headache and nausea, among other symptoms, is a particular danger to the infirm, the elderly and the unborn children of pregnant women. The symptoms can take between three weeks to three months to appear.