Hello Fresh subscription meals may contain listeria-tainted spinach, USDA warns

"Federal health officials late Monday warned people not to eat certain Hello Fresh subscription meals containing spinach that may be contaminated with listeria. The U.S. Agriculture Department issued a public health alert for the meals, which were produced by FreshRealm, the San Clemente-based company linked to an expanding listeria outbreak tied to heat-and-eat pasta meals. The products include 10.1-ounce containers of Hello Fresh Ready Made Meals Cheesy Pulled Pork Pepper Pasta and 10-ounce containers of Hello Fresh Ready Made Meals Unstuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey."

"The pork pepper pasta is identified with establishment number Est. 47718 and lot code 49107 or Est. 2937 and lot code 48840. The unstuffed peppers with ground turkey are identified with Est. P-47718 and lot codes 50069, 50073 or 50698. The problem was discovered when FreshRealm notified the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service that the quick-frozen spinach used in the products tested positive for listeria."

"Last month, FreshRealm said tests confirmed that pasta used in linguine dishes sold at Walmart contained the same strain of listeria linked to an outbreak in June. That outbreak, originally tied to chicken fettuccine Alfredo, has killed at least four people and sickened 20, with the most recent illness reported Sept. 11. FreshRealm officials said genetic testing found the outbreak strain of listeria in samples of pasta made and supplied by Nate's Fine Foods of Roseville, Calif."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a public health alert for Hello Fresh Ready Made Meals after FreshRealm reported quick-frozen spinach in some shipments tested positive for listeria. Affected products include Cheesy Pulled Pork Pepper Pasta and Unstuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey, identified by multiple establishment and lot numbers. The spinach supplier was Sno Pac Foods via Del Mar Foods. FreshRealm reported that the listeria strain detected did not match a known outbreak and no illnesses have been reported from these products. Separately, genetic testing linked an outbreak strain to pasta supplied by Nate's Fine Foods, prompting additional recalls.

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