More than 80 ready-to-eat snack boxes, sandwiches and salad products sold at hospitals, hotels, office buildings and airports are being recalled after being linked to a listeria outbreak that has left at least 10 people hospitalized.
The outbreak is part of one that has been simmering for many months, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying cases and illnesses date back to Dec. 2023.
The voluntary recall includes a variety of ready-to-eat snack boxes, sandwiches and pastas, made by Fresh & Ready Foods LLC, the alert said, under brand names including Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market, Fresh Food To-Go and Fresh Take Crave Away. It impacts more than 80 specific products that were distributed between April 18 and April 25, officials added.
The products were sold in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington at locations including retailers and food service points of sale, including hospitals, hotels, convenience stores, airports and by airlines. They were also sold in vending machines and breakroom areas within corporate offices, medical buildings and healthcare facilities, officials said.
According to officials, the products could have been distributed to additional states as well.
Those who fell ill and were hospitalized were in California and Nevada, according to the FDA, with two sickened in Nevada and eight in California.
Federal officials said they started investigating the recent outbreak last year but didn’t have enough evidence to identify a source of the infections. The investigation was reopened in April, when FDA investigators found listeria in samples collected from Fresh & Ready Foods that matched the strain from the outbreak.
In a news release, Fresh & Ready Foods said it took immediate corrective actions including removing equipment to address the issue. It also said that no illnesses were reported to the specific products distributed between April 18 and April 28.
According to the CDC, the last known illness onset linked to the outbreak was in January of 2024. The investigation remains ongoing.
What is listeria?
Listeria poisoning is caused by a particularly resilient type of bacteria that can survive and grow even during refrigeration. About 1,600 people are infected with it — and 260 die — each year in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Listeria bacteria thrive in moist environments, including soil and water and decaying vegetation and are carried by some animals.
The hardy germs are typically spread when food is harvested, processed, transported or stored in places that are contaminated with the bacteria.
When the bacteria get into a food processing plant, they can be tough to eradicate.
What are the symptoms of listeria?
Foods contaminated with the bacteria can make people sick. Symptoms can be mild and include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More serious illness can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.
Listeria poisoning is tricky because symptoms can start quickly, within a few hours or days after eating contaminated food. But they also can take weeks or up to three months to show up.
Those most vulnerable to getting sick include the very young, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.
Can cooking kill listeria?
Listeria can survive and grow in refrigerated food. It can be killed by heating foods to “steaming hot,” or 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius), the CDC says. But that’s not always possible — or palatable — for foods that are made to be eaten cold.
Because listeria can survive under refrigeration, it’s important to clean and sanitize any surfaces, including refrigerator drawers and shelves, that may have come in contact with the products.
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