"What is listeria?

"Listeria is the infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium. It is the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States, according to the CDC."

News Headlines today:
"2 dead, multiple sick in Listeria outbreak"
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We got 3 of the above kit salads two days ago.

We'd eaten one before getting this notice from Instacart:
"Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. is voluntarily recalling a number of salad kits due to possible listeria contamination. The kits were processed on the same line as cheeses produced by Rizo-López Foods, which recently recalled a line of its dairy products. An announcement from the FDA posted on Feb. 5, says Rizo-López Foods is recalling the dairy products because they are potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections."

The tainted, recalled, Dole salads were sold in 25 different US states (including ours) and in Canada. Other products associated to the Rizo Lopez Foods problem have been much farther reaching.

Luckily, the one salad we ate had no cheese in it. So, that one is NOT part of the current recall. As for the other two salads (in my photo) those are actually part of the recall. After I took this photo, they then went into the garbage. Neither Instacart nor the supermarket (where we got the salad kits) are offering a refund. Nevertheless, I feel just throwing away $15 is better than getting very sick. Listeria kills. Or if you're lucky, it makes you very ill and wish you were dead.

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What's happening these days? It doesn't seem like a single day can pass in the USA anymore without having some sort of serious recall of contaminated food products that could kill you.

Yesterday, there was a long list of products https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/salad-recall-as-dire-warning-issued/ar-BB1i2rCh containing Listeria contaminated cheese.

The day before, there was a different recall of various products with suspected listeria contamination. After 2 deaths, Costco and Trader Joe’s are recalling 60 products - ranging from prepackaged meals-to-go to salad dressings to taco fixings and so on. This comes amid an ongoing listeria outbreak tied to cheese and other dairy products. Other nationwide retailers (now including Whole Foods and standard grocery stores) are also affected by the Rio Lopez recall mess. Rio Lopez Foods is a California-based company. Three or four days ago, there was a recall for a bunch more types of cheeses that are known to be listeria contaminated. Deaths were associated to that recall. It seems that all of these recent listeria-based recalls, now affecting over a hundred products, seem to be connected.

Just before that, there was also a different recall of cheese, sour cream and yogurt products that may or may not be connected to the Rio López Foods. Meanwhile this current Rio López Foods problem - also a problem for the companies who buy products from them to be used in their own products - goes back to at least early January (or before). Plus, this entire situation also probably isn't over yet.

Actually, the problem truly does go back much further than that. The CDC originally investigated the outbreak in 2017 and 2021. Evidence in those previous investigations identified queso fresco and other similar cheeses as a potential source of the outbreak, but a specific brand could not be identified. After new illnesses were reported in December 2023, the CDC and the FDA reopened the investigation. In January 2024, a sample of Rizo Bros Aged Cotija tested positive for the same strain of listeria that made consumers sick in the original outbreak years ago.

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Dole decided (this time) - hopefully BEFORE there was another Dole salad death - that they should pull some of their products because they were using same cheese supplier as the one found to be selling listeria tainted dairy products to countless other companies. Obviously, many,many,many bags of the recalled salads had been sold before the recall. The last recent, deadly Dole salad kit outbreak & recall was as back in early 2022. Scary stuff. Thank goodness Instacart notified us about this newest problem. I truthfully don't normally start my day by reading what's new on the FDA's what-might-kill-you recall list. And I usually don't listen to the TV news until evening. However, an unexpected Instacart alert got our attention enough for us to NOT eat the problematic salads.

What on earth is happening to food safety in America? I'm still reeling from the ever-expanding Quaker Oats products recalls with the recalls growing more & more over a period of many months in 2023 and 2024. Quaker Oats??? Is anything totally safe to eat these days??? Do these recalls ever happen in time to save all of those who may have acquired tainted products, or does someone have to get really sick and maybe die first??? From what I can see, it's the later in many cases.

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I'm just thankful that we ate the salad mix, without the cheese, first and not ones on the current recall list. Of course, if things continue as they seem to, there will probably be additional product recalls attached to what is happening with Dole right now.

Meanwhile, it can take up to 70 days after exposure to Listeria for symptoms of listeriosis to develop. I sure hope the salad kit that we ate yesterday was safe. We didn't know about a Dole recall then & the original bag (with the product code) is now gone. I assume the same situation is true for many Americans. Some may have actually already eaten the products on the recall list.

I now won't be buying any prepackaged salads again for a while.
But like in the past (when we didn't even receive any of the bad products), this boycott won't last forever. People gotta eat something.