Residents are being urged to check their refrigerators for lunch meat recently recalled by the manufacturer in the United States which may pose a health threat.

Kraft Foods recalled two Louis Rich turkey ham lunch meats on Friday due to possible listeria contamination.

Only one of the products recalled is carried by Island grocers, local distributors Butterfield & Vallis said yesterday.

The lunchmeat - Louis Rich 95 percent Fat Free Turkey Ham Cured Turkey Thigh Meat - is in an eight ounce package bearing the UPC number 54680.

The expiry date reads EA Nov. 10 and the product code is P-2310 - "suspect packages would carry both codes", a Butterfield &Vallis press release said.

And Government issued an advisory through the Department of Consumer Affairs urging consumers to stop eating the recalled meat immediately.

Eating food contaminated with the Listeria Monocytogenes bacteria can cause the disease listeriosis - the symptoms of which include high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea.

According to the wholesaler's Louis Rich brand manager, David Murdoch, initial investigations show the suspect product may not have made it to Bermuda. "Initial findings suggest that none of the suspect product ever made it to Bermuda but our policy is to take every precaution," Mr. Murdoch said.

And he added that as the expiry date on the product has passed, the lunch meat should have been off grocers' shelves before the recall.

But Mr. Murdock urged consumers to thoroughly check their refrigerators for recalled meats which may have been purchased earlier.

The other effected product was distributed in the United States and Puerto Rico but is not carried in Bermuda.