These Ready-To-Eat Meals May Be Contaminated With Listeria

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert for two ready-to-eat Hello Fresh meals that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The meals, which are produced by FreshRealm, contain spinach that has tested positive for the bacteria. As spinach is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulated ingredient, a recall has not been issued by FSIS.

FreshRealm was recently impacted by the deadly Listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat pasta meals, which the FDA recently expanded. However, this health alert is not related to the ongoing investigation, as the Listeria contamination was found in the spinach, not the pasta.

How To Identify the Contaminated Ready-To-Eat Meals

At this time, FSIS has declared two Hello Fresh products unsafe to consume; however, the firm says it expects more products to be added to the list. We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. 

As of Oct. 7, these are the two products impacted by the health alert: 

• Hello Fresh Ready Made Meals Chesy Pulled Pork Pepper Pasta with the establishment number “Est. 47718” and lot code 49107 or establishment number “Est. 2937” and lot code 48840
• Hello Fresh Ready Made Meals Unstuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey with the establishment number “P-47718” and lot codes 50069, 50073, or 50698

Both products were shipped directly to consumers. You can view label images on FSIS’ site for easy identification.

What To Do if You Have the Contaminated Ready-To-Eat Meals

There have been no reported cases of listeriosis in connection with this health alert. However, if you have the ready-to-eat meals, you should not consume them. Instead, throw them away or return them to the place of purchase. 

If you did consume the contaminated products, you should monitor yourself for symptoms of infection. Common symptoms of listeriosis include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. 

Listeria can infect anyone, but older adults, those with weakened immune systems, and pregnant people and their newborns are at a higher risk for serious infections and even death. 

If you have health-related questions or are experiencing any symptoms, you should contact your healthcare provider. For questions regarding the recall, you can reach out to FreshRealm at 1-888-244-1562 or [email protected].