At least six people are dead and another 25 are hospitalized due to a listeria outbreak linked to pre-cooked pasta.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, this issue first popped up on its radar in June.
Since then, each progressive update has been more worrying, ultimately leading to the most recent update from Thursday.
“Since the last CDC case count update on September 25, 2025, a total of 7 new illnesses from 3 states have been reported, with 2 additional deaths reported,” the FDA stated. “A total of 27 people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria have been reported from 18 states. Of the 26 people with information available, 25 have been hospitalized and 6 deaths have been reported.”
It’s unclear if the FDA counted this as a death, but did tragically add that at least one “pregnancy-associated illness resulted in a fetal loss.”
According to the FDA, food supplier Nate’s Fine Foods, Inc. ultimately expanded its own self-reported recall on Sept. 25 as the issue continued to fester.
Of note, Nate’s Fine Foods does its product direct to retail. The company appears to make large batches of pre-cooked pasta, which individual retailers can then repackage under their brand.
Because of that, a large and varied list of pre-cooked products across multiple big name brand stores are affected. These pasta dishes range from take-and-bake entrees, to pre-made cold pasta salads, to frozen pasta dishes.
Recalled products include:
- Sprouts Farmers Market Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad – product use by dates 10/10/25 – 10/29/25
- Giant Eagle smoked mozzarella pasta salad – expiration dates 9/30/25 through 10/7/25
- Kroger stores recalled deli bowtie and penne pasta salads – sold on AUG 29 2025 thru OCT 2 2025
- Scott & Jon’s Shrimp Scampi with Linguini Bowls 9.6-oz – best if used by dates of 3/12/2027, 3/13/2027, 3/17/2027, 3/21/2027
- Trader Joe’s Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettucine Alfredo 16-oz plastic tray packages with “best if used by” dates of 9/20/2025, 9/24/2025, 9/27/2025, 9/28/2025, 10/01/2025, 10/03/2025, 10/05/2025, 10/08/2025, or 10/10/2025
- Albertsons stores recalled store-made deli pasta salads – sell thru dates from SEP 8 2025 to OCT 4 25
- Marketside Linguine with Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce 12-oz. – best if used by dates of SEP 22, 2025; SEP 24, 2025; SEP 25, 2025; SEP 29, 2025; SEP 30, 2025; and OCT 01, 2025
- Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo with Fettuccine 12.3-oz – best-by date of June 26, 2025, or prior; and 32.8-oz – best-by date of June 27, 2025, or prior
- Home Chef Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo 12.5-oz – best-by date of June 19, 2025, or prior
According to the Oct. 10 FDA product recall, of the people interviewed, over half recalled eating a pre-cooked pasta dish. Half of that group specifically recalled eating a chicken alfredo dish.
Listeria symptoms can be nasty — and deceptive.
Mild symptoms can involve a fever, muscle aches, nausea, tiredness, vomiting, and diarrhea. As listeriosis develops, it can get much more severe, and symptoms may include a headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions.
The FDA does make a special point to warn pregnant women that, while they may typically only experience the lesser symptoms of listeria, the infection itself can lead to “miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.”
The most at-risk groups to Listeria exposure include pregnant women, adults over the age of 65, and people who are immunocompromised.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the FDA has recommended that people check their fridges and freezers for these products and to not consume them.
Affected states include California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Caroline, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Caroline, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington state.
The FDA investigation into the matter is ongoing.
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