Dunkley?s Dairy had to destroy 15 cases of cheeseburgers after producers Sara Lee Food & Beverage issued a recall because of potentially lethal bacteria.

Earlier this week Sarah Lee announced the voluntarily recall of select cheeseburger and chicken biscuit products sold under the Jimmy Dean, Rudy?s Farm and State Fair brands.

The company had been notified by its cheese supplier that one of the supplier?s cheese products could potentially contain Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection may cause miscarriages and stillbirth among pregnant women, according to the Kansas City InfoZine website.

As a precautionary measure, the company is recalling 40,572 pounds of product. The company is working closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in undertaking this voluntary recall.

Bermuda Government Chief Environmental Health Officer Estlyn Harvey said Dunkley?s was the only Bermuda importer to get the suspect cheeseburgers and had not distributed them when the recall notice came.

The company destroyed 108 pounds of that burger, worth around $379, on Thursday.

The products being recalled are: Jimmy Dean Mini 24 Cheeseburger Beef Patties with Real American Cheese on a Bun. The 38.4-ounce packages are marked with a production code of 05294, 05314 or 05321. Rudy?s Farm Country Style 16 Chicken Biscuits. The 24-ounce packages are marked with a production code of 05326 (frozen) or the use-by date of January 21, 2006 (refrigerated).

State Fair Cheeseburgers Beef Patties with Cheese on a Bun. The 9.6-ounce packages are marked with a production code of 05326.

The Rudy?s Farm products do not contain cheese but were manufactured on the same line as the Jimmy Dean and State Fair cheeseburger products. This recall does not apply to any other Jimmy Dean, Rudy?s Farm or State Fair brand product with or without cheese.