3 die in listeria outbreak linked to Frugals milkshakes

Six people were hospitalized — including three who later died — after they drank milkshakes made with ice cream machines contaminated with Listeria bacteria at a restaurant in Washington state, officials said.

All milkshake flavors sold at the Frugals restaurant at 10727 Pacific Ave. South in Tacoma were found to contain the bacteria associated with the foodborne listeriosis outbreak, the state Department of Health said.

The machines had not been cleaned properly, the agency said in a release, adding that no other Frugals eateries were believed to have been affected.

“The restaurant stopped using its ice cream machines Aug. 8, but Listeria can sicken people up to 70 days later,” the department said.

“Genetic fingerprinting of bacteria in the milkshakes shows it’s the same strain of Listeria that hospitalized six people between Feb. 27 and July 22,” it said.

“All six people had conditions that made their immune systems less able to fight disease. Three of the six people hospitalized died. Two people who were hospitalized, but did not die, said they ate Frugals’ Tacoma milkshakes before getting sick,” the Department of Health added.

For higher-risk people other than pregnant women, symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pregnant women typically experience only fever and other symptoms like chills and headache, though infection during pregnancy also can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.

In a statement to KOMO, Frugals said it was “deeply saddened to learn the Washington State Department of Health is reporting six people were hospitalized with foodborne listeriosis and three people later died.

“We are heartbroken and deeply regret any harm our actions could have caused. Frugals has and will continue to fully cooperate with and support this ongoing investigation,” it continued.

“We have followed all (Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department) recommendations, including immediately halting all milkshake sales at our Tacoma location and sending the milkshake equipment to an independent facility for thorough cleaning, sanitization and re-testing,” Frugals said.

The chain added that it “also directed all milkshake machines in our other locations to be shut down and samples from these machines to be sent out for similar testing.”