HelloFresh subscribers should avoid consuming meal kits containing spinach as they may be tainted with listeria, federal health officials warned Monday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a public health alert for the meals, which were produced by California-based FreshRealm, a company already linked to a growing listeria outbreak in heat-and-eat pasta dishes.
The affected products include 10.1-ounce containers of HelloFresh Ready Made Meals Cheesy Pulled Pork Pepper Pasta and 10-ounce containers of HelloFresh Ready Made Meals Unstuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey. Both items are shipped directly to consumers.
The contaminated spinach was discovered when FreshRealm alerted the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service that the leaves used in the products had tested positive for listeria bacteria.
The affected Cheesy Pulled Pork Pepper Pasta meals were produced under establishment number Est. 47718 with lot code 49107, and Est. 2937 with lot code 48840.
The Unstuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey meals were made under establishment number P-47718 and include lot codes 50069, 50073, and 50698.
Consumers who have these specific products should not eat them and throw them away, health officials say.
The latest warning comes after FreshRealm acknowledged last month that tests found the same strain of listeria in pasta used in linguine dishes sold at Walmart, part of a larger outbreak first tied to Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo.
The earlier outbreak has caused at least four deaths and 20 illnesses, with the latest case reported on September 11.
Genetic testing traced the outbreak strain back to samples supplied by Nate’s Fine Foods of Roseville, California, which had distributed pasta that matched the listeria strain in both incidents.
Several grocery chains, including Kroger, Giant Eagle, and Albertson’s, have also issued recalls for pasta salads and other items made with Nate’s Fine Foods products due to possible listeria contamination.
Health authorities warn that listeria infections can be especially dangerous for older adults, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant individuals and newborns. Symptoms may include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, balance loss, and convulsions.
Around 1,250 people in the U.S. become ill from listeria each year, and one in six older adults with the infection dies, according to the CDC.
Also in August, HelloFresh agreed to pay $7.5 million to resolve a lawsuit that alleged it misled customers and made canceling subscriptions unnecessarily difficult.
