Health officials are warning consumers that certain HelloFresh ready-to-eat meals may contain listeria-contaminated spinach and are urging them to discard the products immediately.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a public health alert for two HelloFresh ready-to-eat meals produced by FreshRealm containing an FDA-regulated ingredient — spinach — that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The products included in the public health alert are 10.1-ounce containers of HelloFresh Ready Made Meals Cheesy Pulled Pork Pepper Pasta and 10-ounce containers of HelloFresh Ready Made Meals Unstuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey.
Both were shipped directly to consumers by HelloFresh.
No illnesses have been reported from eating the affected products. However, federal health officials warn that consumption of food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis — a serious infection that mainly affects older adults, people with weakened immune systems, and pregnant people and their newborns. Infections outside these groups are less common but still possible.
Symptoms range from mild, non-invasive illness — causing fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea that can last up to three days — to life-threatening invasive listeriosis, which can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, according to the FDA.
The issue was discovered after FreshRealm informed FSIS that the spinach in these products tested positive for the bacteria.
In September, FSIS reported that tests showed pasta used in linguine dishes sold at Walmart contained the same strain of Listeria responsible for a deadly June outbreak that killed at least four people and sickened 20.
Earlier this month, several companies — including Kroger, Giant Eagle and Albertsons — issued voluntary recalls for some ready-to-eat pasta and other meals due to possible listeria contamination.
With News Wire Services
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