If you’ve purchased ready-to-eat or frozen foods from Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Target, H-E-B, Wegmans, Kroger’s, 7-Eleven, and Walmart then you might want to check the packages. A recent nationwide recall was issued due to a listeria contamination.
Ready-to-eat meat sounds like an odd name, but it’s a common version of meat. If you’ve eaten from a hot bar or grab-and-go foods at the supermarket or microwaved a frozen meal, then you’ve had ready-to-eat meat.
The recall comes after government inspection found traces of listeria monocytogenes, which can cause listeriosis, a foodborne bacteria illness that has proved fatal time and time again, especially for the elderly, young children, and pregnant women. BrucePac, the company responsible for the outbreak, has a long list of recalled items including frozen ready meals, pre-made salads, and wraps containing chicken, turkey, ham, and bacon. Well known brands like Jenny Craig, Atkins, Signature Select, Boston Market, Amazon Fresh, Michelina’s, Rao’s, and Dole were using BrucePac-produced meats for their products and are affected by the recall.
Production dates for the contaminated foods range from June 19th through October 8th. For fresh ready-made foods, the expiration date has passed, but for frozen foods, the expiration dates are longer going into 2025 and 2026 and the chance for illness is still a risk.
People are urged to throw out potentially contaminated products and keep updated about the outbreak on the FDA’s website.