Recent reports suggest that meat products of a New Zealand company have been revoked from the market, after it was claimed that were likely to have been responsible behind outbreak of listeria, due to which two patients have died in hospital at central north island town of Hastings.

This Wednesday, Bay Cuisine, the New Zealand meat company, willingly recalled its products, including salami, pepperoni and ham. The company has even been supplying these products to hospitals. The hospital as well as the super-markets will no longer be selling these products. Nevertheless, these products will not be even exported.

Spokeswoman Anna Kirk affirmed that since the beginning of the month of May, four patients have been diagnosed with the bacterial disease at Hawke's Bay Hospital.

She said, “Listeria likely caused the death of one woman and was a contributing factor in the death of a second. Both the women had weakened immune systems”.

It has been reported that one of the women, who died was in her 80s and the other was in her 60s.

Kirk stated that initially the hospital was unable to track the source behind the occurrence of the disease, but after carrying out tests on supplied meat: they tested positive.