Listeria Outbreak Linked to Pasta Meals – the Rest of the Untold Story

Almost half a year (that’s right, half a year!) after Fresh Realm ready-to-reheat meals were originally linked to a Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) outbreak and the original recalls were conducted – illnesses continue and pasta as an ingredient by another supplier (Nate’s Fine Foods) is now contributing to a wave of ingredient driven recalls in a variety of pasta containing meal products sold by retailers.

While this one seems ripe for more transparent investigatory reporting, either by public health officials or … Read the rest

Publisher’s Platform: Mystery Listeria Outbreak Investigation needs to be Reopened

On July 24, 2024, John tested positive for Listeria, while in the ICU. John’s sample was genetically linked, by Whole Genome Sequencing, to a cluster of Listeria associated with potatoes from Mexico.

Here are the prior investigations by States, FDA and CDC:

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/files/2025/08/2025-3195-CARA-656-_Redacted-4.pdf

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/files/2025/08/2025-3195-CARA-775-_Redacted-1.pdf

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/files/2025/08/2025-3195-CARA-918-_Redacted-1.pdf

Figure: SNP-tree of sequences of REP strain uploaded to the public sequence repository at 
NCBI as of July 2025

On July 16, 2024, John was admitted to the hospital with a headache, facial drooping, … Read the rest

New Listeria outbreak detected; other outbreaks remain under investigation

Inspectors with the Food and Drug Administration are tracking a new outbreak of infections from Listeria monocytogenes.

So far there are three confirmed patients. The FDA has not reported the ages of the patients or where they live. 

There are likely many more sick people than have been confirmed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that for every patient confirmed in a Salmonella outbreak there are 29 patients who go undetected. This is because some patients do not … Read the rest

Death toll in Listeria outbreak traced to supplemental shakes increases to 12

Another death has been confirmed in an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections traced to supplemental shakes.

The Food and Drug Administration reports that there are now 12 confirmed deaths in the outbreak, which has sickened 38 people across 21 states. Thirty-seven of the patients required hospitalization.

The supplemental shakes were distributed by Lyons Magnus LLC to long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and were not available for retail sale. 

The shakes are packaged in 4-ounce cartons and packaged under … Read the rest

Pennsylvania officials warn against raw milk cheese contaminated with Listeria

Raw milk cheese from a Pennsylvania producer sold at an unknown number of retail locations is contaminated with Listeria. The producer is refusing to issue a recall. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture warns consumers to discard BeiHollow brand raw milk cheddar cheese.

The Department of Agriculture purchased two retail packages of BeiHollow brand cheese from Racoon Valley Farm in Millerstown, Perry County, as part of required testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Analysis revealed that the cheese product … Read the rest

One dead in UK Listeria outbreak

Health officials in the United Kingdom are investigating a potential outbreak of Listeria that has killed one person.

Whole genome sequencing of listeriosis samples by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified three cases with one death, possibly as part of an outbreak.

Patients are aged 59 or older and are from the south of England or London. One person fell sick in November 2022, while the other two became ill in February 2023.

A similar strain as the … Read the rest