The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert for 16 ready-to-eat foods that may contain dairy manufactured by Rizo-López Foods. That company voluntarily recalled several dozen of its dairy products in early February after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked the items to a Listeria outbreak that has resulted in two deaths and 23 hospitalizations in 11 states so far.
The latest public health alert covers items sold at Trader Joe's, Amazon Kitchen, Albertson's, Raley's, and other retailers, and includes chicken enchiladas and burritos. The list of products subject to the public health alert are available here, including the establishment numbers and states where the products were distributed. The food labels are also available here.
FSIS is issuing this public health alert to ensure that consumers are aware that these products, which bear the USDA mark of inspection, should not be consumed.
According to FSIS, the problem was discovered when the establishments notified them that they used FDA-regulated dairy products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes to produce the RTE items. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.
Consumption of food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects older adults, persons with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women and their newborns. Less commonly, persons outside these risk groups are affected.
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Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. An invasive infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn. In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections can occur in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics. Persons in the higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating contaminated food should seek medical care and tell the health care provider about eating the contaminated food.
FSIS is concerned that some products may be in consumers’ or retailers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. Retailers that have purchased these products are urged not to serve or sell them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
