USDA warns of potential listeria contamination in HelloFresh meals
Federal health authorities are warning of potential listeria contamination of ready-to-eat meals by HelloFresh that contain recalled frozen spinach.
The public health alert from the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture was issued Monday over two HelloFresh meal kits: HelloFresh Ready Made Meals Cheesy Pulled Pork Pepper Pasta and HelloFresh Ready Made Meals Unstuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey.
Both products were shipped directly to HelloFresh subscribers.
There have been no confirmed adverses effects associated with the outbreak. The FSIS was notified of the potential contamination by FreshRealm, which produced the meals. The company had discovered the spinach used in its products had tested positive for listeria.
Sno Pac Foods, the Caledonia, Minn.-based company, which had supplied the spinach, has since issued a recall of its Del Mar 35 LB Bulk Organic Frozen Spinach and its 10 Oz Organic Frozen Cut Spinach products over the listeria concerns.
FreshRealm told UPI in a statement that neither it nor its customers are aware of any food-borne illness associated with the spinach ingredient. It said it genome sequenced the spinach ingredient samples and the listeria strain found does not match any known outbreak.
“Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our customers and our food safety program is designed to safeguard the quality of the meals with produce,” it said.
The recalled products were distributed nationwide through both retail stores and distributors, the FDA said in a separate statement.
“A bulk case of spinach from our supplier was tested and found positive for listeria monocytogenes and was of the same code we used to repack the Sno Pac Organic Frozen Cut Spinach into 10 oz packages,” the company said.
“The production of the product has been suspended while the company continues to investigate the source of the problem.”
Listeria infection, caused by eating food contaminated with listeria monocytogenes bacteria, can be especially harmful to pregnant women, newborns, adults over the age of 65 and those with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The disease can be fatal, with the CDC estimating 172 deaths per year in the United States.