Roomies — if you’ve recently grabbed one of those quick pasta meals from Walmart or Trader Joe’s, you might want to check your fridge ASAP. Health officials are sounding the alarm after a listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat meals left several people hospitalized — and tragically, four people have died. Now the CDC and USDA are urging folks to toss certain products immediately while the investigation continues to cook up.
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Listeria In The Linguine? Frozen Meals Under Fire
According to NBC Chicago, the CDC confirmed 4 deaths and 19 hospitalizations tied to contaminated meals, prompting the USDA to issue warnings. It started last week with Walmart’s Marketside Linguine with Beef Meatballs & Marinara, which comes with best-by dates ranging from Sept. 22 to Oct. 1. But by Friday, the alert expanded to include Trader Joe’s Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettuccine Alfredo, packaged in 16-ounce plastic trays with best-by dates of Sept. 20, Sept. 24, and Sept. 27.
While there hasn’t been an official recall just yet, food producer FreshRealm — which supplies both stores — advised Walmart to pull the products from shelves this week. Walmart complied, and Trader Joe’s has posted an alert on its website, urging customers to either toss the meals or bring them back for a full refund. Officials say more products may still be identified, so the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is continuing its investigation. In the meantime… y’all might wanna skip the quick fettuccine fix.
The TL Ain’t Got Time For This
Whewwww, y’all wasted no time doing backflips into The Shade Room comment section! Some Roomies said it feels like there’s always something going on with the food supply, while others pointed out that the government’s shut down — so who’s even supposed to be handling this mess? And of course, Trader Joe’s caught some shade too: “Not Traderious Joe’s acting brand new — y’all supposed to be the safe ones!”
One Instagram user @_jasmine.2__ said, “It’s to much going on I’m overstimulated fr“
This Instagram user @rizatisserand wrote, “Great, I can’t do nothing no more without something trying to off me“
And, Instagram user @jayt.music added, “Remember President Pumpkin spice cut the USDA funding which prevents stuff like this from happening.“
While Instagram user @kionaaniahh__ said, “Anybody wanna come together and grow a farm?? Fruits, veggies , herbs. Cattle, chickens, pigs.“
Instagram user @pamcam_7690 wrote, “dang everytime we turn around it’s something 😭”
Finally, Instagram user @izzybakeoven_ commented, “THE GOVERNMENT IS SHUT DOWNNNNNNNNNNNNN“
Listeria Was Dropped From The Watchlist — Now Look
Hold up — didn’t the current administration pull back on tracking this exact bacteria?! Turns out, just weeks before this deadly listeria outbreak hit headlines, the federal-state partnership responsible for monitoring foodborne illnesses quietly scaled down its work. As of July 1, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet)stopped tracking six major pathogens — including Listeria — in ten states. Instead, the program narrowed its focus to just Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, according to the CDC.
Before the cutback, FoodNet had eyes on eight different pathogens. Additionally, some can cause life-threatening illnesses in newborns, pregnant women, or people with weakened immune systems. States can still choose to track those infections on their own, but it’s no longer required. Now, experts are saying the lack of surveillance could make it harder to catch early signs of outbreaks. And with lives now lost, critics are asking the tricky question: was this preventable?
