2025 United States listeriosis outbreak

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2025 United States listeriosis outbreak
Bacteria strain Listeria monocytogenes
Source Pasta meal products produced by Nate's Fine Foods
Location United States
DateJune 2025 – present
Hospitalized cases25
Deaths
6

The 2025 United States listeriosis outbreak is an ongoing widespread outbreak of listeriosis linked to pre-made pasta meal products traced back to Nate's Fine Foods and distributed in national grocery store chains across the country. The outbreak was first reported in June 2025, and as of November 5, there have been cases in 18 states: California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

Contents

Background

There have previously been listeriosis outbreaks in the United States, most recently being an outbreak in 2024 linked to deli meats in Virginia. [1]

Pregnant women, newborns, and elderly with immunodeficiency are most at risk of developing symptoms. Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. Particularly for pregnant women, more serious conditions can include miscarriages, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of newborns. [1] Listeriosis takes 3-4 weeks to incubate human cells and show symptoms, making it difficult to properly monitor the outbreak across different states. Furthermore, some people recover without medical care and are not tested, leaving their cases unreported. [2]

Timeline

The outbreak started in June 2025, when several brands issued recalls of ready-to-eat chicken fettucine alfredo meal products made by FreshRealm Inc., which were being sold under the brands Home Chef and Marketside at Kroger and Walmart respectively. [1] Prior to this in February 2025, around two million baked goods, including those sold by large businesses like Dunkin', were recalled over concerns of listeria. [1]

In response, businesses began testing their pasta samples, some of which returned as positive for listeria in September 2025. Further testing confirmed it was the same strain in previously recalled products, and prompted the recall of two additional products, which shared the same pasta supplier, Nate's Fine Foods.

Nate's later expanded their call to include batches of other precooked pasta, including fettucine, linguine, and farfalle. In addition to Kroger and Walmart, their products were also sold at Sprouts Farmers Market, Albertsons, and Trader Joe's stores. [3] [4]

A FDA update from October 30 reported seven new cases and three new states, along with two additional deaths from Hawaii and Oregon respectively. [5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Treisman, Rachel (November 4, 2025). "Worsening listeria outbreak tied to pasta products kills 6, hospitalizes 25". NPR . Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  2. "When People Got Sick: Prepared Meals Outbreak, October 2025". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . October 30, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  3. "Outbreak Investigation of Listeria monocytogenes: Prepared Pasta Meals (June 2025)". Food and Drug Administration . September 30, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  4. Nygard, Liesel (November 5, 2025). "Deaths climb in listeria outbreak tied to popular pasta meals. See map". MassLive . Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  5. "Listeria Outbreak Linked to Prepared Pasta Meals". Food and Drug Administration . October 30, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.