Aldi recalls sausages in listeria scare

German supermarket giant Aldi said on Tuesday that it had discovered that some of its meat products being sold near the city of Hanover were infected with the dangerous listeria bacteria.

The firm is warning its customers not to eat any of the 100 gram packages of sausages from the Wiltman brand.

Earlier, Wiltman had said that only packages stamped with the expiration date of March 8 were thought to be contaminated.

"This germ can cause flu-like symptoms and, in certain individuals, very serious disease," Wiltman said on its website, apologizing "for the inconvenience."

Aldi has cautioned that there is a particularly high risk for pregnant women, the elderly, small children, and people with an already weakened immune system.

'Horsegate' and bananas

This is not Aldi's first run-in with tainted meat. In 2013, the global chain had to recall large amounts of its beef products after discovering that some of them were "up to 100 percent" horse meat.

Aldi has also come under fire in recent weeks, along with other German supermarkets, for undercutting the price of bananas grown in Ecuador and Colombia.

According to the UK-based international aid charity Oxfam, bananas in Germany are 30 percent cheaper than in Italy and France, and German demands for cheap produce are causing farmers and plantation workers to live below the poverty line or get out of the trade entirely.  

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