USDA warns of listeria in ready-to-eat meals
By: Mary Walrath-Holdridge
USA Today
..... Ready-to-eat meals shipped to subscribers of two popular meal delivery services could be contaminated with listeria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned October 7. [2025]
..... The USDA's food Safety Inspection Service issued an advisory cautioning consumers by meal kit delivery services Blue Apron and Marley Spoon. Cauliflower in the affected meals may be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, the bacterium responsible for causing listeria poisoning and listriosis, according to the agency.
..... Those meals are:
* DISH by Blue Apron Cheesy chicken Mac with Vegetables. 13.05-ounce plastic tray package with lot codes 25240 and 25247 and established number P-3081.
* BALANCE by Marley Spoon BBQ Sauce Beef Meatballs with Cheesy Cauliflower, 10.5-ounce packages with lot code 25255 and establishment number 47718.
..... Consumers should not eat the affected meals. FSIS recommends throwing the affected products away or returning them to the place of purchase for a refund.
..... The agency recommends washing and sanitizing bowls, cups, storage containers and other surfaces that may have come into contact with the recalled products as well as throughly washing hands after handling and preparing food.
..... FreshRealm, the manufacturer of the affected meals, notified FSIS of the issue after riced cauliflower in certain products tested positive for listeria. There have been no reported illnesses linked to the meals and they are no longer available for sale through either company.
..... The warning came a day after FSIS issued a notice about foods prepared by FreshRealm and distributed via HelloFresh another meal deliver service. On October 6, [2025] HelloFresh recalled ready-to-eat meals produced by FreshRealm for possibly contaminated spinach.
.....
FreshRealm has also been a source of recalls from stores as Walmart, where some of its products tested positive for the strain of listeria that had been linked to 20 illnesses, including four deaths, across 15 states as of September 25. [2025]
..... Consumers with questions regarding the public health alert can contact FreshRealm's customer service hotline at 888-244-1562 or customerservice@freshrealm.com.
..... USA Today has reached out to FreshRealm for comment.
..... Listeria poisoning is a food-borne bacterial infection most commonly caused by the bacterium listeria monocytogenes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
..... According to the CDC, symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, and miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery and/or life-threatening infection of newborn infants. Severe cases can result in death.
..... People in higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months of consuming contaminated food should seek medical attention, according to the CDC.