(Photo by andresr)
Roomies if youve recently grabbed one of those quick pasta meals from Walmart or Trader Joes, 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.
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 Walmarts 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 Joes 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 hasnt 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 Joes 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 USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service is continuing its investigation. In the meantime yall might wanna skip the quick fettuccine fix.
Whewwww, yall wasted no time doing backflips into The Shade Room comment section! Some Roomies said it feels like theres always something going on with the food supply, while others pointed out that the governments shut down so whos even supposed to be handling this mess? And of course, Trader Joes caught some shade too: Not Traderious Joes acting brand new yall supposed to be the safe ones!
One Instagram user @_jasmine.2__ said, “Its to much going on Im 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 its something ”
Finally, Instagram user @izzybakeoven_ commented, “THE GOVERNMENT IS SHUT DOWNNNNNNNNNNNNN“
Hold up didnt 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 its 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?
