Imperial Valley Press

Listeria found at catering facility for LA airport.

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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines has suspended use of a caterer at Los Angeles Internatio­nal Airport after listeria was found in the caterer’s facility, but Delta Air Lines continues to get meals from the kitchen.

A spokeswoma­n for Atlanta-based Delta said Thursday that the kitchen operated by Gate Gourmet complies with local and federal regulation­s.

The catering company said it serves other airlines at the airport but won’t identify them. No other airlines have announced that they are stopping service from the Gate Gourmet facility.

A Gate Gourmet spokeswoma­n said that listeria was found in floor drains but not on food-preparatio­n surfaces. She said the kitchen was treated and remains open and continues to serve other airlines.

A spokesman for Fort Worth- based American said the airline decided to stop taking food from the Los Angeles kitchen because of concern over progress in Gate Gourmet’s plan to correct the listeria problem. He said the airline is not aware of contaminat­ion at any other Gate Gourmet facilities.

Both American and Delta said they have not received any reports of passengers becoming ill from food from the Los Angeles facility.

Listeria is a bacteria that can cause fever and diarrhea, and more dangerous complicati­ons in pregnant women, including miscarriag­es and stillbirth­s. About 1,600 people are sickened by listeria each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gate Gourmet’s parent company is controlled by Chinese conglomera­te HNA Group, which paid $1.5 billion for the Swiss company last year.

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