Latest news with #Brie
Newsweek
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Brie Bella Reveals WWE Return is Facing Major Roadblock
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. WWE Hall of Famer Brie Bella has opened up about why she has not returned to the company alongside her twin sister, Nikki Bella. On the latest episode of their podcast, Brie revealed the "roadblock" that she believes is preventing her from making an in-ring comeback. While her sister, Nikki, made a surprise return at the 2025 Royal Rumble and is scheduled to compete on tonight's Raw, Brie has remained on the sidelines. She explained that the reason has to do with her husband, AEW star Bryan Danielson. The "Roadblock" Speaking on The Nikki & Brie Show, Brie addressed the question she is constantly asked about when she will return to a WWE ring. She said that she believes her husband working for a direct competitor makes some people in WWE uncomfortable. "I know my roadblock is the fact that my husband is with the rival company," Brie said. "For some people, it makes them uncomfortable at WWE, thinking I would be there when my husband is with AEW. You know what, that's okay... Does it bum me out at times that I wish feelings were different? Absolutely, but it doesn't make me angry or bitter." Bryan Danielson has been with AEW since 2021 and remains with the company in a backstage capacity after retiring as a full-time wrestler. HAMBURG, GERMANY - APRIL 15: Brie Bella and Nikki Bella (L) are pictured at the red carpet prior to the WWE Live event at O2 World on April 15, 2015 in Hamburg, Germany. HAMBURG, GERMANY - APRIL 15: Brie Bella and Nikki Bella (L) are pictured at the red carpet prior to the WWE Live event at O2 World on April 15, 2015 in Hamburg, Germany.A Tale Of Two Companies While WWE has recently opened the "forbidden door" with promotions like TNA, its relationship with its primary competitor, AEW, is very different. In the competitive world of professional wrestling, having a top star's spouse working for the direct rival can create a complicated situation regarding loyalty and the sharing of inside information. Brie's comments are a candid acknowledgment of these behind-the-scenes politics. She stated that she understands if people in WWE are uncomfortable with the situation and that she has accepted it gracefully, calling it a sign that she is supposed to be in her "Soft Girl Era." The Bella Twins: Icons Of An Era The Bella Twins are one of the most successful and influential female acts in WWE history. The duo were cornerstones of the "Divas Era," with both Brie and Nikki holding the Divas Championship. They transcended the wrestling world with the launch of the hit reality shows Total Divas and Total Bellas, which brought a new, mainstream female audience to the WWE product. Their massive success as brand ambassadors and crossover stars led to their induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020. While fans are enjoying Nikki Bella's current run, it now seems a full in-ring reunion of the iconic team is not in the cards for the foreseeable future.
Style Blueprint
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Style Blueprint
Charred, Fried & Rockefeller: Where to Find Nashville's Hottest Oysters
Share with your friends! Pinterest LinkedIn Email Flipboard Reddit Think oysters are only for slurping raw on the half shell? Think again. From chargrilled beauties dripping in garlicky butter to golden fried oysters that disappear faster than you can say 'Rockefeller,' Music City's chefs are serving oyster variations that bring the heat. Once you try these dishes, you might never look at oysters the same way again. Butchertown Hall | Wood-Fired Oysters Neighborhood: Germantown More Info: At Butchertown Hall, the wood-fired oysters are a smoky game-changer. These plump little guys come out sizzling, slathered in rich BBQ butter, chimichurri, and a kick from Fresno chili. It's like oysters met Tex‑Mex for a flavor-intensive hoedown, and everyone's invited. Trust us, you don't have to love raw oysters to fall hard for this bold, spicy twist. Pin Carne Mare | Grilled Oysters Neighborhood: The Gulch More Info: The grilled oysters are a standout bite at Carne Mare. Each oyster is kissed by the wood-fired grill, dressed in rich oreganata butter, and topped with a crisp Parmesan breadcrumb crust. They hit your table warm, smoky, and loaded with savory crunch — proof that oysters can be classy and comforting, with a little Italian flair. Gannons | Oysters Rockefeller & Oysters Brie Neighborhood: Downtown More Info: At Gannons, oysters get the luxe treatment two ways. The oysters Rockefeller come classic: baked under a creamy spinach and herb topping, bubbling and golden. Then there's the oysters Brie, a decadent iteration with melty Brie, adding rich, buttery depth to every bite. Served piping hot, these dishes prove that sometimes oysters are better when they're all dressed up. Hall's Chophouse | Oysters Rockefeller Neighborhood: Downtown More Info: Hall's Chophouse brings timeless steakhouse style to its oysters Rockefeller. These beauties are baked under a savory layer of greens, herbs, and just enough cheese to make every bite rich without being heavy. Warm, briny, and finished with a touch of crunch, they're a nod to tradition with a little Hall's polish. Henrietta Red | Green Curry Oysters & Mustard Butter Oysters Neighborhood: Germantown More Info: At Henrietta Red, oysters don't just sit on ice (though they do that, too); they come out steaming and packed with flavor. The green curry oysters bring a bright, aromatic kick, while the mustard butter oysters go for decadent, tangy indulgence. Found on both the brunch and dinner menus, they're a warm, comforting spin on the usual oyster lineup — perfect for anyone who likes their shellfish with a little more sizzle and a lot more personality. Pin Juicy Seafood Neighborhood: East Nashville More Info: At Juicy Seafood on Gallatin Pike in East Nashville, oysters arrive cooked and crowd-pleasing in two standout styles: steamed oysters (tender with a Cajun twist) and fried oysters (golden and crisp perfection). You can even get a full fried oyster basket with a side of French fries, sweet potato fries, Cajun fries, or onion rings. The Optimist | Smokebox Oysters Neighborhood: Germantown More Info: At Ford Fry's seafood‑centric The Optimist, the smokebox oysters arrive hot, golden, and unapologetically indulgent. A crisp breadcrumb topping gives way to smoky, butter‑soaked oysters brightened with lemon and parsley. Forget the cold, slippery stereotype; these beauties have a built‑in crunch and a whole lot of flavor. Consider sharing … but don't be surprised if 'Just one' turns into 'Sorry, I ate them all.' Pin Perry's Steakhouse | Chargrilled Blue Point Oysters Neighborhood: Cool Springs More Info: Perry's may be famous for its steaks, but the menu has plenty of surprises, like the chargrilled Blue Point oysters. Served by the half-dozen or dozen, these plump beauties are bathed in herb butter, then finished with melted Monterey Jack and Pecorino Romano for a creamy, smoky bite. The Southern Steak & Oyster | Hickory Wood Chargrilled Oysters Neighborhood: SoBro More Info: At The Southern Steak & Oyster, oysters aren't just for the raw bar; they shine on the grill, too. Cooked over a hickory wood fire, these chargrilled oysters come off smoky, buttery, and super flavorful. Each bite balances the oyster's natural brininess with a kiss of char, making them a go-to for anyone who prefers their shellfish hot. It's a Southern twist that might just ruin raw oysters for you forever. Street Brothers Seafood | Fried Oysters & Oyster Po'Boy Neighborhood: Woodbine More Info: At Street Brothers Seafood, fried oysters get the spotlight they deserve — crispy on the outside, tender and briny on the inside. Order them straight up for that satisfying crunch, or go all in with the oyster po'boy, where they're piled high on soft bread with all the fixings. It's classic Southern comfort with a Nashville twist, proving that sometimes the best oysters are fresh from the fryer. That said, you can often find other variations here, too, like the grilled iteration below. Pin Looking for a recipe to make at home? Try these roasted oysters with cornbread stuffing. ********** To stay in the know on the best ways to drink and dine your way through the South, subscribe to StyleBlueprint. About the Author Jenna Bratcher Jenna Bratcher is StyleBlueprint Nashville's Associate Editor and Lead Writer. The East Coast native moved to Nashville 17 years ago, by way of Los Angeles. She is a lover of dogs, strong coffee, traveling, and exploring the local restaurant scene bite by bite.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Why real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie just had to do Together, together
When Dave Franco read the script of Together, a comedic horror film about a codependent couple whose bodies begin to fuse, he was immediately on board – and not just for himself. 'I was blown away by all of these insane set-pieces that were like nothing I had ever seen before, and I turned to Alison and said I think we should do this one together,' he says. 'And then I read the script and was not at all insulted that Dave compared our relationship to that of the characters in the movie,' says Alison Brie, Franco's partner of 15 years and wife of eight. In truth, she says, she wasn't at all insulted because she felt they were so different from the characters in the movie. Adds Franco, 'I think if we were struggling as much as they are, we would not have said yes'. Franco plays Tim, a man in his mid-30s who still harbours a fantasy of making it big with his occasionally gigging band. Brie is Millie, a teacher who lands a new job in the country and thinks of it as the gateway to the next chapter in their lives – the cute house, the small community, the pitter-patter of little feet. He is, of course, terrified. After a walk in the woods near their new home goes awry, things get truly weird. Strange smells in the house. Sticky substances that seem to emerge whenever they are close to each other. An inability to leave each other's orbit for very long, or at all. Franco and Brie met at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was, she jokes, 'a one-night stand that never ended'. Though she felt their relationship was sufficiently different to the film's couple, Brie also appreciated that 'the meta quality of us being in a long-term relationship would add a lot to the movie. For us as actors, there was a lot of work that we didn't have to do to have the theme [of codependency] be infused with that history that's already there.' For writer-director Michael Shanks, though, there was nowhere to hide. Tim is, he readily admits, '100 per cent' him – or at least him as he was in his mid-20s when he first had the idea for what would become Together. 'I've been in a relationship with my partner for over 16 years,' he says. 'We met at schoolies the week after high school – a friend's parents had a little shack an hour out of Melbourne, we went there and drank ourselves into oblivion for a week, and got awfully sunburnt.' They have been together ever since, he continues, 'and there was a point where I realised we have all the same friends, we eat the same food, we listen to the same music, we breathe the same air, and I started to freak out. I was realising that, without her, I wasn't a complete person any more because we'd been growing in the same direction so much that our lives had become intertwined.' It wasn't just them, either. 'My friendship group is a series of tragic monogamists, most of whom have been together since high school,' Shanks says. 'Some of those relationships have thrived, and some you look at and go, 'I don't think you guys are still together because you love each other. I think you're just used to each other. You're so intertwined you can't extricate yourselves'.' When Shanks told his partner, Louey, about his idea, she was taken aback but also understanding. 'She said to me, 'I'm a little upset you're writing this, but it's a good idea'.' Shanks wrote his first draft of the screenplay in 2019, when he was in his late 20s. The following year, Screen Australia funded a second draft, and in 2021 it funded a third. (Shanks was already on the agency's radar thanks to his YouTube channel, which had garnered more than 64 million views before going into hiatus; in 2016, the agency backed his self-made Lord of the Rings parody Wizard of Oz.) That timeline has become critically important in recent months, for reasons that Shanks finds painful to discuss. The film was shot in just 21 days in early 2024, with the star American couple setting up house in Melbourne. 'We loved snagging that window seat at Napier Quarter,' says Brie of the cosy Fitzroy wine bar they frequented. 'Melbourne makes us feel at home,' adds Franco. 'It's one of the few places we've ever shot that we could actually imagine ourselves living in.' For the rest of the year, Shanks did whatever VFX work he could manage himself, though the big set pieces were farmed out to Framestore. 'It was amazing to work with real visual effects people,' he says, somewhat modestly. He worked day and night and at weekends. 'And that was the way we managed to get it done in time to submit to Sundance.' The film festival is the world's foremost showcase of indie cinema. Loading 'I've been a film nerd my whole life, and you dream of going somewhere like Sundance,' Shanks says. 'Making the film was a dream. Getting into Sundance was the next dream.' Park City, Utah, where the festival has been held, is more than 2100 metres above sea level. It's not uncommon for visitors to contend with altitude sickness – and Shanks had it bad. He had a virus too. 'I spent two days leading up to the screening just vomiting, unable to keep food down. The day of the screening, I was in an emergency room and had a drip and oxygen – it was awful,' he recalls. Somehow, he forced himself into the 2000-seat cinema where he was due to introduce his film. 'And as soon as I walked into that room, the adrenaline hit.' Only a very small group of people – producers and editors and a handful of crew – had yet seen Together. They thought it was 'quite good', but no one knew how it would play to an audience. 'My partner had flown over for it, and my mother had flown over to see a film she was almost certainly going to hate – it's sticky and gross, and it has some nasty moments, and she typically doesn't watch any film that doesn't star Judi Dench.' Five minutes in, he got his first laugh. After another five minutes, the film's first scare landed too. 'And from then, they just reacted exactly the way we always hoped they would.' At the after-party, he was mobbed by well-wishers while Louey was playing dice games with Brie and English actor Dan Stevens. Even his mum liked it … ish. 'She came up and said, 'I thought that was quite good'.' Within hours, a bidding war broke out for the film, which cost about $US5 million to make. Two days later, distributor Neon landed it – reportedly paying $US17 million for worldwide rights, the biggest sale of the festival and one of the biggest in its history. And that, more or less, is when the trouble began. Loading According to a lawsuit filed in May, Jess Jacklin and Charles Beale, producers of Better Half, were alerted by friends about alleged similarities between their movie and Together. They attended a screening of Shanks' film on January 30 'to assess the extent of the similarities. As the audience laughed and cheered, Jacklin and Beale sat in stunned silence, their worst nightmare unfolding,' the suit claims. 'Scene after scene confirmed that Defendants … stole virtually every unique aspect' of their film. The lawsuit lodged on behalf of their company, StudioFest LLC, claimed that Patrick Henry Phelan, the writer and director of Better Half, had sent his screenplay to Franco and Brie via their agents, WME, in August 2020. Shanks and Franco first met on Zoom in 2021, after another Shanks script, Hotel, Hotel, Hotel, Hotel, was included on The Black List 's annual roundup of Hollywood's best unproduced screenplays. During that meeting, the pair bonded over a shared love of horror, and Shanks mentioned another screenplay he had written, Together. 'I wasn't thinking he would turn around and say, 'I want to be in it',' says Shanks, 'more that he might read it and go, 'Oh, this guy can write. Maybe we can write something together'. But obviously, secretly hoping he'd be like, 'Yeah, I want to do it'. And then, even more absurdly, secretly hoping he would show … Brie the script, and they might want to do it together. Loading 'I didn't even dare think that was a possibility,' he continues. 'But two days later, I got a call from my agent saying, 'hey, just so you know, Dave wanted to ask, how would you feel if he starred in the film, would that be OK with you? And also, he gave it to his wife Alison, and she really loves it, and how would you feel about them coming on and doing it together?'' 'OK, yeah, I think that could work.' Shanks can't really talk about the lawsuit other than to say he thinks it is easily disproven by a fully documented timeline (which establishes, among other things, the existence of his first draft long before the agents for Franco and Brie were sent, and rejected, Phelan's screenplay). But he will talk about the impact it has had on him. 'It's been a real bummer, to be honest,' he says. 'I sort of sank into a bit of a depression. This is such an indie film. It was made for no money, Dave and Alison and myself did it gratis, almost, because we believed in the project. And then to have some stranger that none of us ever met or heard of turn us into these public villains, it's been very emotionally challenging.' At the end of the day, though, the lawsuit and the online venom it spawned is but 'a minor roadblock'. 'Now that the film's coming out, we're remembering, 'Oh my God, we've made a movie that people really like, it's 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, people bought it because they know people are going to watch it',' he says. As for Tim, the commitment-phobic antihero of his film, Shanks admits 'I wrote him as a therapeutic, dark reflection of myself. We've all got that friend who still thinks they're going to be an actor or a rock star in their early 30s'. Or a filmmaker? 'Exactly,' he says, laughing. 'They're the last person to know that they should give it up, to realise there's actually more to life than these fantasies.' But aren't you glad you didn't give it up? 'Oh my God, yeah.' Loading Together is on general release from July 31.
The Age
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Why real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie just had to do Together, together
When Dave Franco read the script of Together, a comedic horror film about a codependent couple whose bodies begin to fuse, he was immediately on board – and not just for himself. 'I was blown away by all of these insane set-pieces that were like nothing I had ever seen before, and I turned to Alison and said I think we should do this one together,' he says. 'And then I read the script and was not at all insulted that Dave compared our relationship to that of the characters in the movie,' says Alison Brie, Franco's partner of 15 years and wife of eight. In truth, she says, she wasn't at all insulted because she felt they were so different from the characters in the movie. Adds Franco, 'I think if we were struggling as much as they are, we would not have said yes'. Franco plays Tim, a man in his mid-30s who still harbours a fantasy of making it big with his occasionally gigging band. Brie is Millie, a teacher who lands a new job in the country and thinks of it as the gateway to the next chapter in their lives – the cute house, the small community, the pitter-patter of little feet. He is, of course, terrified. After a walk in the woods near their new home goes awry, things get truly weird. Strange smells in the house. Sticky substances that seem to emerge whenever they are close to each other. An inability to leave each other's orbit for very long, or at all. Franco and Brie met at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was, she jokes, 'a one-night stand that never ended'. Though she felt their relationship was sufficiently different to the film's couple, Brie also appreciated that 'the meta quality of us being in a long-term relationship would add a lot to the movie. For us as actors, there was a lot of work that we didn't have to do to have the theme [of codependency] be infused with that history that's already there.' For writer-director Michael Shanks, though, there was nowhere to hide. Tim is, he readily admits, '100 per cent' him – or at least him as he was in his mid-20s when he first had the idea for what would become Together. 'I've been in a relationship with my partner for over 16 years,' he says. 'We met at schoolies the week after high school – a friend's parents had a little shack an hour out of Melbourne, we went there and drank ourselves into oblivion for a week, and got awfully sunburnt.' They have been together ever since, he continues, 'and there was a point where I realised we have all the same friends, we eat the same food, we listen to the same music, we breathe the same air, and I started to freak out. I was realising that, without her, I wasn't a complete person any more because we'd been growing in the same direction so much that our lives had become intertwined.' It wasn't just them, either. 'My friendship group is a series of tragic monogamists, most of whom have been together since high school,' Shanks says. 'Some of those relationships have thrived, and some you look at and go, 'I don't think you guys are still together because you love each other. I think you're just used to each other. You're so intertwined you can't extricate yourselves'.' When Shanks told his partner, Louey, about his idea, she was taken aback but also understanding. 'She said to me, 'I'm a little upset you're writing this, but it's a good idea'.' Shanks wrote his first draft of the screenplay in 2019, when he was in his late 20s. The following year, Screen Australia funded a second draft, and in 2021 it funded a third. (Shanks was already on the agency's radar thanks to his YouTube channel, which had garnered more than 64 million views before going into hiatus; in 2016, the agency backed his self-made Lord of the Rings parody Wizard of Oz.) That timeline has become critically important in recent months, for reasons that Shanks finds painful to discuss. The film was shot in just 21 days in early 2024, with the star American couple setting up house in Melbourne. 'We loved snagging that window seat at Napier Quarter,' says Brie of the cosy Fitzroy wine bar they frequented. 'Melbourne makes us feel at home,' adds Franco. 'It's one of the few places we've ever shot that we could actually imagine ourselves living in.' For the rest of the year, Shanks did whatever VFX work he could manage himself, though the big set pieces were farmed out to Framestore. 'It was amazing to work with real visual effects people,' he says, somewhat modestly. He worked day and night and at weekends. 'And that was the way we managed to get it done in time to submit to Sundance.' The film festival is the world's foremost showcase of indie cinema. Loading 'I've been a film nerd my whole life, and you dream of going somewhere like Sundance,' Shanks says. 'Making the film was a dream. Getting into Sundance was the next dream.' Park City, Utah, where the festival has been held, is more than 2100 metres above sea level. It's not uncommon for visitors to contend with altitude sickness – and Shanks had it bad. He had a virus too. 'I spent two days leading up to the screening just vomiting, unable to keep food down. The day of the screening, I was in an emergency room and had a drip and oxygen – it was awful,' he recalls. Somehow, he forced himself into the 2000-seat cinema where he was due to introduce his film. 'And as soon as I walked into that room, the adrenaline hit.' Only a very small group of people – producers and editors and a handful of crew – had yet seen Together. They thought it was 'quite good', but no one knew how it would play to an audience. 'My partner had flown over for it, and my mother had flown over to see a film she was almost certainly going to hate – it's sticky and gross, and it has some nasty moments, and she typically doesn't watch any film that doesn't star Judi Dench.' Five minutes in, he got his first laugh. After another five minutes, the film's first scare landed too. 'And from then, they just reacted exactly the way we always hoped they would.' At the after-party, he was mobbed by well-wishers while Louey was playing dice games with Brie and English actor Dan Stevens. Even his mum liked it … ish. 'She came up and said, 'I thought that was quite good'.' Within hours, a bidding war broke out for the film, which cost about $US5 million to make. Two days later, distributor Neon landed it – reportedly paying $US17 million for worldwide rights, the biggest sale of the festival and one of the biggest in its history. And that, more or less, is when the trouble began. Loading According to a lawsuit filed in May, Jess Jacklin and Charles Beale, producers of Better Half, were alerted by friends about alleged similarities between their movie and Together. They attended a screening of Shanks' film on January 30 'to assess the extent of the similarities. As the audience laughed and cheered, Jacklin and Beale sat in stunned silence, their worst nightmare unfolding,' the suit claims. 'Scene after scene confirmed that Defendants … stole virtually every unique aspect' of their film. The lawsuit lodged on behalf of their company, StudioFest LLC, claimed that Patrick Henry Phelan, the writer and director of Better Half, had sent his screenplay to Franco and Brie via their agents, WME, in August 2020. Shanks and Franco first met on Zoom in 2021, after another Shanks script, Hotel, Hotel, Hotel, Hotel, was included on The Black List 's annual roundup of Hollywood's best unproduced screenplays. During that meeting, the pair bonded over a shared love of horror, and Shanks mentioned another screenplay he had written, Together. 'I wasn't thinking he would turn around and say, 'I want to be in it',' says Shanks, 'more that he might read it and go, 'Oh, this guy can write. Maybe we can write something together'. But obviously, secretly hoping he'd be like, 'Yeah, I want to do it'. And then, even more absurdly, secretly hoping he would show … Brie the script, and they might want to do it together. Loading 'I didn't even dare think that was a possibility,' he continues. 'But two days later, I got a call from my agent saying, 'hey, just so you know, Dave wanted to ask, how would you feel if he starred in the film, would that be OK with you? And also, he gave it to his wife Alison, and she really loves it, and how would you feel about them coming on and doing it together?'' 'OK, yeah, I think that could work.' Shanks can't really talk about the lawsuit other than to say he thinks it is easily disproven by a fully documented timeline (which establishes, among other things, the existence of his first draft long before the agents for Franco and Brie were sent, and rejected, Phelan's screenplay). But he will talk about the impact it has had on him. 'It's been a real bummer, to be honest,' he says. 'I sort of sank into a bit of a depression. This is such an indie film. It was made for no money, Dave and Alison and myself did it gratis, almost, because we believed in the project. And then to have some stranger that none of us ever met or heard of turn us into these public villains, it's been very emotionally challenging.' At the end of the day, though, the lawsuit and the online venom it spawned is but 'a minor roadblock'. 'Now that the film's coming out, we're remembering, 'Oh my God, we've made a movie that people really like, it's 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, people bought it because they know people are going to watch it',' he says. As for Tim, the commitment-phobic antihero of his film, Shanks admits 'I wrote him as a therapeutic, dark reflection of myself. We've all got that friend who still thinks they're going to be an actor or a rock star in their early 30s'. Or a filmmaker? 'Exactly,' he says, laughing. 'They're the last person to know that they should give it up, to realise there's actually more to life than these fantasies.' But aren't you glad you didn't give it up? 'Oh my God, yeah.' Loading Together is on general release from July 31.
The Irish Sun
6 days ago
- Health
- The Irish Sun
The 10 symptoms of deadly listeriosis infection as person dies and over 140 meals recalled from Irish supermarkets
OVER 140 ready-made meals and side dishes have been recalled from Irish shops due to health fears. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland Advertisement 2 Listeria monocytogenes is a potentially fatal bacterium that causes listeriosis Credit: Getty Images - Getty 2 The infection can include several symptoms Credit: Getty Images - Getty And it emerged today that Nine cases of listeriosis have been confirmed in Ireland as of Tuesday, July 22. But how does listeriosis affect a person and what symptoms do we need to look out for? Advertisement Read more in News The infection can include mild flu-like symptoms or none at all, according to the Safefood says a person with a listeria infection can have fever, tiredness and headache. There can also be gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. However, in rare cases the infection can be more severe and cause serious complications. Advertisement Most read in Irish News Some people are more vulnerable to Listeria monocytogenes infections, including The Health Protection Surveillance Centre says that in immunocompromised and elderly individuals, the infection can occasionally spread to the central nervous system causing meningitis and/or septicaemia, with symptoms such as headache, stiff neck, confusion, and loss of balance or convulsions. How to protect myself from listeriosis? Protecting yourself against the fatal bacteria is vital, especially for pregnant women, infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. There are several measures issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre that can significantly reduce the risk of contracting the infection: Keep foods for as short a time as possible and follow storage instructions including 'use by' and 'eat by' dates Cook food thoroughly, especially meat, ensuring that it is cooked through to the middle Keep uncooked meats separate from vegetables and from cooked and ready-to-eat foods Wash salads, fruit and raw vegetables thoroughly before eating, or peel if appropriate Wash hands, knives, and cutting boards after contact with uncooked food Make sure that the refrigerator is working correctly When heating food in a microwave, follow heating and standing times recommended by the manufacturer Throw away leftover reheated food. Cooked food which is not eaten immediately should be cooled as rapidly as possible and then stored in the refrigerator Pregnant women, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems should avoid eating high-risk foods such as: raw (unpasteurised) milk or foods made from raw milk, soft or mould-ripened cheeses (e.g. feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined cheeses), pâté and smoked salmon. If contact with ewes at lambing time is unavoidable for pregnant women, the elderly, or people with weakened immune systems, washing hands after handling animals should reduce any possibility of infection. Infected pregnant women may have no symptoms or experience only a mild flu-like illness. However, infection during pregnancy can lead to premature labour, meningitis in the newborn or even miscarriage. The incubation period (time between initial infection and first symptoms appearing) is, on average, three weeks but can range between three and 70 days. Advertisement Diagnosis is usually made by culture of blood or cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid bathing the brain and spinal cord). During pregnancy, a blood test is the most reliable way to find out if symptoms are due to listeriosis. NOTIFIABLE DISEASE Listeriosis is a notifiable disease in Ireland, meaning medical practitioners are required to tell public bosses if a case comes to their attention. If you're concerned about symptoms and illness, contact your GP. Advertisement It follows a from Irish stores due to the possible presence of listeria monocytogenes. The full 141-strong list . The recalled branded prepared meals and side dishes were produced by Ballymaguire Foods, but are marketed under the labels of the stores selling them. POPULAR READY MEALS The list includes popular ready meals such as the Meals Made Easy, Beef Lasagne and Finest Cottage Pie, both sold in Centra Freshly Prepared Chicken Massaman with Sticky Jasmine Rice and Aldi Inspired Cousine Chicken & Broccoli Bake were also recalled following the alert. Advertisement Also included are The Happy Pear Shepherdless Pie, Creamy Veggie Lasagne and Chickpea Curry items. Ballymaguire Foods told 'UTMOST SERIOUSNESS' Apologising to customers, it added that "incidents of this nature are extremely rare for us". It said it is treating the outbreak "with the utmost seriousness and are working closely with all parties to manage the situation swiftly and responsibly". Advertisement On Saturday, July 19 it said it temporarily suspended all production at the affected facility and carried out a full pharmaceutical-grade clean-down operation, while production will resume when it is confirmed safe to do so. Ballymaguire Foods added: "Immediately upon identifying the issue, we informed our retail and food-service customers and engaged with all relevant authorities, including the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, the Health Service Executive, and our regional Environmental Health Officer. PRODUCTION SUSPENDED "Through our retail partners, all products are being withdrawn from the shelves, and a full consumer communication process is under way." As a precautionary measure Ballymaguire Foods said that on Saturday it made the decision to temporarily suspend all production at the affected facility, and that a comprehensive assessment and immediate corrective actions were carried out, including a full pharmaceutical-grade clean down of the facility. Advertisement It said production will resume at the facility once it is confirmed safe to do so. DO NOT EAT WARNING They are also encouraged not to eat the affected ready meals and to dispose of them or return them to the point-of- The FSAI added that recall notices will be displayed at point-of-sale. Advertisement They continued: "Retailers are requested to remove the implicated products from sale and display recall notices at point-of-sale. "Wholesalers/distributors are requested to contact their affected customers and recall the implicated products and provide a point-of-sale recall notice to their retailer customers. "Caterers should not use the implicated products."
