Topline
Two ready-made meals sold by meal kit company HelloFresh contain spinach that may have been contaminated with listeria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned consumers this week.
Close-up of HelloFresh logo on packaging sleeve.
Gado via Getty Images
Key Facts
The Cheesy Pulled Pork Pepper Pasta and Unstuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey ready-made meals from HelloFresh were made using spinach that later tested positive for listeria monocytogenes, the agency said.
Customers with the meals should discard them or return them to their place of purchase.
The products were recalled Monday and the Department of Agriculture warned that the recall is expected to grow as more affected products are identified.
The potentially contaminated spinach was provided by FreshRealm, a California-based company also linked to an expanding listeria outbreak that has impacted ready to heat-and-eat pasta meals sold at stores including Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Albertson’s.
While no illnesses have yet been linked to the HelloFresh meals, pasta meals produced by FreshRealm have been linked to at least four listeria deaths and 20 illnesses since September.
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What Is Listeria?
Listeria is a foodborne illness most often contracted by eating improperly processed deli meats (listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands and food, the CDC says) and unpasteurized milk products. The bacteria can survive refrigeration and even freezing. Most healthy people don’t become ill from listeria infection, but it does disproportionately impact people older than 65, newborns and pregnant women, who may themselves experience only mild symptoms, but babies in utero can die from listeria. The CDC estimates that about 1,250 people are infected with listeria each ear and 172 die from the infection.
Further Reading
