The government agency in charge of food safety is reassuring patients at Hawke's Bay Hospital their meals are safe after two patients died in a listeria outbreak.
Investigations are continuing into the outbreak which is linked to the deaths of two women, one in her 60s and another in her 80s.
Listeria had been identified as the cause of one death and was a significant factor in the other death, the Hawke's Bay District Health Board said.
Two other people who contracted the bacteria have since recovered.
A Napier-based producer of cold meats has issued a recall notice for some pre-packaged meats because of the potential they were infected with listeria.
Bay Cuisine was recalling ham products and salami rolls warning that they should not be consumed.
The Hawke's Bay Hospital's cafeteria and kitchen are supplied with products from the company which are also sold at Mad Butcher and Preston's shops.
It was unclear if the patients, admitted to the hospital in May and June, had contracted the bug while in its care but listeria had been identified in products sold to the hospital.
Pre-packaged meats had been removed from the hospital on July 10.
The Ministry for Primary Industries was investigating the listeria outbreak and was testing ready-to-eat meats from Bay Cuisine but said the hospital food was safe to eat.
"We are absolutely sure now that there are no products in the hospital, and neither have their been for the last week, that are posing any risk to the patients," deputy director general of compliance and response Andrew Coleman told Radio New Zealand.
He advised anyone who had bought the products not to eat them and either destroy them or return them to where they were bought.
Listeria can be very dangerous for pregnant women and their unborn children, newborn babies, the elderly and those whose immune system is weak.
There were about 25 cases of the disease in the country each year.
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