10 hospitalized in California, Nevada due to listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat foods

A listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat foods, including sandwiches and pasta, left 10 people hospitalized in California and Nevada.

Fresh & Ready Foods had voluntarily recalled several of its ready-to-eat foods amid the outbreak of listeria, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in an outbreak advisory May 10.

The ready-to-eat foods, meaning they do not require additional cooking, have “use by” dates ranging from April 22 to May 19, and include products like sandwiches, pasta and snack items.

The products were sold in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington at locations like hospitals, hotels and airports, per the advisory. The affected items are under the brand names Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market Fresh Food to Go and Fresh Take Crave Away.

The FDA and Centers for Disease Control started investigating the cluster of listeria cases in 2024 but couldn’t pinpoint a source, the advisory states. The FDA reopened the investigation in April 2025 after listeria was found in samples from Fresh & Ready Foods, and an analysis of the strain proved a match to the strain causing the illnesses.

Eight people have been hospitalized in California and two in Nevada due to the listeria outbreak. The onset of illness ranged from December 2023 to September 2024, per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“While no illnesses have been reported related to the specific products distributed between 04/18/2025 and 04/28/2025 as listed below, this action is being taken as a precautionary measure to ensure the continued safety of our consumers,” Fresh & Ready Foods said in a news release.

The FDA advises consumers not to eat the more than 75 affected products — see a full list here. Anyone who bought the recalled items should clean and sanitize anything that touched the food.

Listeria is a bacteria that can withstand refrigeration, perMayo Clinic. Symptoms of listeria infection include diarrhea, an upset stomach, vomiting, or, if it spreads through the blood, fever, headache, stiff neck, loss of balance, seizures and more. Newborns, people who are pregnant and those with weakened immune systems are more at risk of severe illness from listeria infection.