Here’s what you need to know.
Last week’s nationwide recall of ready-to-eat meat and poultry has expanded to nearly 12 million pounds and now includes products sent to U.S. schools, restaurants, and several major retailers.
BrucePac, in conjunction with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), announced an additional 1,779,040 pounds of product that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes on October 15. The total amount of affected meat and poultry products has now reached 11,765,285 pounds.
The most current list of recalled products—which is 343 pages long—includes salads, wraps, pasta bowls, burritos, enchiladas, stir fries, and many other ready-made frozen meals from brands including Fresh Express, Rao’s, Boston Market, Atkins, Dole, ReadyMeals, Taylor Farms, Home Chef, and Signature Select.
The stores that carry impacted products include Aldi, Amazon Fresh, Giant Eagle, H-E-B, Kroger, Meijer, Publix, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Wegmans, and 7-Eleven.
Affected BrucePac ready-to-eat meat and poultry items were produced in Durant, Oklahoma, between June 19, 2024 and October 8, 2024. The company said in a statement that it is working closely with the USDA to notify consumers and distributors and ensure “all necessary actions are taken to ensure a safe food supply.”
“We will not resume production until we are confident the issue has been resolved,” it added.
Consumption of food contaminated with listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns.
Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn. In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems can occur.
FSIS is concerned that some product may be on store shelves or in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Officials urged restaurants, institutions, schools, and other establishments not to serve or use these products. If you purchased one of the recalled BrucePac products, FSIS recommends discarding immediately or returning the contaminated product to your point of purchase.
This is a developing story.
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