A listeria outbreak on Virgin Blue flights that forced two pregnant women into premature labor has been traced back to diced chicken from an Australian food company.
Wollongong's GMI Food Wholesalers Pty Ltd, trading as Australian Poultry and Food Wholesalers, has been prohibited from producing the chicken product or any other ready-to-eat meats, according to the New South Wales government.
A total of seven people contracted listeriosis, a bacterial infection, after eating chicken wraps on Brisbane-based Virgin Blue flights in May and June.
Tests by the NSW Food Authority and Queensland authorities linked the diced chicken back to the Virgin Blue supplier and the contaminated chicken that was sent to Queensland has been located and removed.
Listeria can have an incubation period of more than two months and produces vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea and severe headaches.
