This Pasta Listeria Outbreak has me worried

A total of 27 people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria have been reported from 18 states. California 3, Hawaii 2, Florida 1, Illinois 1, Indiana 1, Louisiana 2, Michigan 2, Minnesota 1, Missouri 1, North Carolina 1, Nevada 1, Ohio 1, Oregon 3, South Carolina 1, Texas 3, Utah 1, Washington 1. One death from each of the following states: Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, and Utah. One pregnancy-associated illness resulted in a fetal loss. Sick people’s samples were collected on dates ranging from August 1, 2024, to October 16, 2025. Of 26 people with information available, 25 have been hospitalized and 6 deaths have been reported.

With an incubation period of 3-70 days, the recall coming late, and a high likelihood that the products might still be in customer’s freezers, the number of ill will unfortunately increase.

On March 19, 2025, FSIS identified the outbreak strain in a routine sample of FreshRealm chicken fettuccine alfredo. FreshRealm tested a beef meatball linguine marinara meal. This meal tested positive for the same strain of Listeria making people sick in this outbreak. These products were not distributed for sale to consumers. FreshRealm also tested the ingredients used in the meals. Pasta used in the meal tested positive for Listeria. Whole genome sequencing results show the Listeria in the pasta is the same strain making people sick. Companies that used certain lots of affected pasta are working to recall food and meals that contain these pastas. On September 30, 2025, the supplier of the affected pasta, Nate’s Fine Foods, Inc., expanded their recall of certain lots of pre-cooked pasta including fettucine, linguine, and farfalle (bowtie), after a sample of linguine pasta collected and tested by FreshRealm tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

Please check your freezers.

• Sprouts Farmers Market Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad – product use by dates 10/10/25 – 10/29/25 (Sprouts Farmers Market recall)
• Giant Eagle smoked mozzarella pasta salad – expiration dates 9/30/25 through 10/7/25 (Giant Eagle recall) 
• Kroger stores recalled deli bowtie and penne pasta salads – sold on AUG 29 2025 thru OCT 2 2025 (Kroger recall) 
• Scott & Jon’s Shrimp Scampi with Linguini Bowls 9.6-oz – best if used by dates of 3/12/2027, 3/13/2027, 3/17/2027, 3/21/2027 (Demers Food Group Recall)
• Trader Joe’s Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettucine Alfredo 16-oz plastic tray packages with “best if used by” dates of 9/20/2025, 9/24/2025, 9/27/2025, 9/28/2025, 10/01/2025, 10/03/2025, 10/05/2025, 10/08/2025, or 10/10/2025 (USDA FSIS public health alert)
• Albertsons stores recalled store-made deli pasta salads – sell thru dates from SEP 8 2025 to OCT 4 25 (Albertsons recall)
• Marketside Linguine with Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce 12-oz. – best if used by dates of SEP 22, 2025; SEP 24, 2025; SEP 25, 2025; SEP 29, 2025; SEP 30, 2025; and OCT 01, 2025 (USDA FSIS public health alert)
• Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo with Fettuccine 12.3-oz – best-by date of June 26, 2025, or prior; and 32.8-oz – best-by date of June 27, 2025, or prior (FreshRealm recall)
• Home Chef Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo 12.5-oz – best-by date of June 19, 2025, or prior (FreshRealm recall)

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.