Posted December 22, 2021
CDC is currently investigating two separate Listeria outbreaks linked to packaged salads. This outbreak is linked to packaged salads produced by Fresh Express. The other outbreak is linked to packaged salads produced by Dole.
Fast Facts
- Illnesses: 10
- Hospitalizations: 10
- Deaths: 1
- States: 8
- Recall: Yes
- Investigation status: Active
Recalled Food
On December 20, 2021, Fresh Express recalledexternal icon several brands of packaged salad products. The recall includes all Use-By Dates with product codes Z324 through Z350.
- Brands include Fresh Express, Bowl & Basket, Giant Eagle, Little Salad Bar, Marketside, O Organics, Signature Farms, Simply Nature, Weis Fresh from the Field, and Wellsley Farms Organic.
On December 16, 2021, the Michigan Department of Agricultureexternal icon identified the outbreak strain of Listeria in a bag of Fresh Express Sweet Hearts packaged salad.
CDC is also investigating another Listeria outbreak linked to packaged salads produced by Dole. See the Dole recall noticeexternal icon.
What You Should Do
- Do not eat any recalled packaged salads. Throw them away or return them to where you bought them.
- Follow these five steps to clean your refrigerator, containers, and surfaces that may have touched the recalled packaged salads. Listeria can survive in the refrigerator and can easily spread to other foods and surfaces.
Call your healthcare provider right away if you have these symptoms of Listeria infection after eating packaged salads.
- Pregnant people usually experience only fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. However, Listeria can cause pregnancy loss or premature birth. It can also cause serious illness or death in newborns.
- People who are not pregnant may experience headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, in addition to fever and muscle aches.
What Businesses Should Do
- Do not sell or serve recalled packaged salads.
- Follow FDA’s safe handling and cleaning adviceexternal icon if you sold or served recalled packaged salads.
- Listeria can cause severe illness (known as invasive listeriosis) when the bacteria spread beyond the gut to other parts of the body.
- Pregnant people, adults 65 years or older, and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk for severe illness.
- Pregnant people typically experience only fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. However, Listeria infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
- People who are not pregnant may experience headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, in addition to fever and muscle aches.
- Symptoms of severe illness usually start 1 to 4 weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria but may start as early as the same day or as late as 70 days after.
- Listeria can also cause common food poisoning symptoms, like diarrhea and fever. People who experience these symptoms usually recover without treatment.
- For more information about Listeria, see the Listeria Questions and Answers page.