• Six dead, others hospitalized from frozen and ready-to-eat prepared pasta meals due to a Listeria outbreak.
• Frozen shrimp recalled due to radiation concerns.
• Other recalls highlight Salmonella, E. coli, and Botulism.

The holiday season is just around the corner, and that means plenty of shared meals between family, friends, and neighbors, but consumers need to check their refrigerators and freezers closely, as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued two major product recalls in the last two months.

In the most serious case, a Listeria outbreak in frozen and ready-to-eat pasta meals has sickened 27 people across 18 states, with two hospitalized and six deaths reported, as well as a pregnancy-associated illness that resulted in a fetal loss.

The second major recall involves frozen shrimp imported from Indonesia that was shipped to 40+ states and might have been exposed to low levels of radiation associated with Cesium-137 contamination.

If those two recalls were not enough to keep consumers on edge, there have been more than a dozen other food and beverage recalls in the last two months in products ranging from super greens to peaches to dried fish to cheese to infant formula involving Salmonella, E. coli, and Botulism.

Real-Time Traceability Allows for Targeted Recalls

NBC5 Chicago says consumers can’t be blamed for thinking that there might be more food and beverage recalls than ever.

“From ground cinnamon to breakfast burritos, popcorn, and even pet food, food recalls in the U.S. seem to be appearing more often,” reported the television station. “Is the food supply less safe?”

Thankfully, officials at the Institute for Food Safety and Health at Illinois Institute of Technology (IFSH) reassured consumers that recalls are down from previous years, and real-time traceability is protecting the food supply with targeted recalls.

“If you look at the total products that were then recalled in the last year, so October through September, it was actually reduced by 300 products compared to 2024," Brian Schaneberg, the executive director at IFSH, told NBC5. "In that case, you had a reduction in the number of products recalled, but you had an increase in events found."

Schaneberg said there were more recall events due to several factors:

• More products on the market with ingredients from around the globe.
• Real-time traceability technology allows companies to be more concise on the actual number of products impacted by a recall.
• The FDA now has power, via the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), to require a recall, helping focus the system on prevention vs. reaction.

“Advances in technology have helped industry and food safety agencies get better and faster at preventative recalls and removing products from the market faster when an outbreak is confirmed. The majority of recalls today are preventative and not associated to an outbreak or illness,” said Schaneberg.

Six Deaths Reported from Pre-Cooked Pasta

The importance of prevention in foodborne illness outbreaks was driven home with the listeria outbreak from prepared pasta meals.

“On September 30, 2025, the supplier of the affected pasta, Nate's Fine Foods, Inc., expanded their recall of certain lots of pre-cooked pasta, including fettuccine, linguine, and farfalle (bowtie), after a sample of linguine pasta collected and tested by FreshRealm tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes,” reported the FDA.

Prepared meals made with the affected pasta may have been sold in the refrigerated and frozen sections of grocery stores and are intended for microwaving and/or cooking before eating. Consumers who are unsure if they have purchased this product are advised to contact their retailer.

On Oct. 20, 2025, in an update, the FDA said that “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. One pregnancy-associated illness resulted in a fetal loss.”

The CDC is working to get information on whether sick people ate the recalled food or if additional foods may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.  

“Consumers should double check their refrigerators and freezers for recalled foods,” advised the FDA.

Recalled products include:

• Sprouts Farmers Market Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad - product use by dates 10/10/25 through 10/29/25 (Sprouts Farmers Market recall)
• Giant Eagle smoked mozzarella pasta salad – expiration dates 9/30/25 through 10/7/25 (Giant Eagle recall)
• Kroger stores recalled deli bowtie and penne pasta salads – sold on 8/29/25 through 10/2/25 (Kroger recall)
• 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 (Demers Food Group Recall)
• Trader Joe’s Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettuccine 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, and 10/10/2025 (USDA FSIS public health alert)
• Albertsons stores recalled store-made deli pasta salads – sell-through dates from 9/8/25 through 10/4/25 (Albertsons recall)
• Marketside Linguine with Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce 12-oz. – best if used by dates of 9/22/25, 9/24/25, 9/25/25, 9/29/25, 9/30/25, and 10/1/25 (USDA FSIS public health alert)
• Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo with Fettuccine 12.3-oz – best-by date of 6/26/25, or prior; and 32.8-oz – best-by date of 6/27/25, or prior (FreshRealm recall)
• Home Chef Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo 12.5-oz – best-by date of 6/19/25, or prior (FreshRealm recall)

Frozen Shrimp Products Recalled from 40+ States

The second major product recall ongoing involves frozen shrimp imported from the Indonesian firm.

“FDA is actively investigating reports of Cesium-137 (Cs-137) contamination in shipping containers and frozen shrimp products processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods) of Indonesia,” reported the FDA.

While no product has tested positive or alerted for Cs-137. It appeared that the frozen shrimp had been prepared, packed, and held under insanitary conditions, whereby it may have become contaminated with the element, which leads to concerns of low-level radiation and health impacts with continued exposure.

“If you recently purchased one of the impacted lots of raw or cooked frozen shrimp throw it away. Do not eat or serve this product,” advised the FDA. “If you suspect you have been exposed to elevated levels of cesium, talk to your healthcare provider.”

Recalled products included, please see this FDA page for updated details:

Other Food Recalls to Keep an Eye On

Besides the two major product recalls, the FDA is also tracking these recalls, market withdrawals, and safety alerts since Oct. 1, 2025:

• Vamper Slayer Garlic Cheddar Cheese: potential Listeria
• Organic Supergreens Power Mix/Organic Moringa Leaf Powder: potential Salmonella
• ByHeart Whole Nutrition Infant Formula: potential Clostridium Botulinum
• Moonlight/Kroger Yellow and White Peaches: potential Listeria
• Snow Fruit and Supreme Produce Peach Salsa: potential Listeria
• First & Last Marinara Sauces, Puttanesca Sauce, and Meat Flavored Pasta Sauce: potential Clostridium Botulinum
• Dry Ghoinnva Fish: potential for Botulism poisoning
• Pacifici Italian Parsley: potential Salmonella
• DEVI, Haetae, and Durra Brands Ground Cinnamon: potential lead contamination
• Twin Sisters Creamery Whatcom Blue, Farmhouse, Peppercorn, and Mustard Seed Cheese Products: potential E. coli
• Kenz Henz Grade AA Large Pasture Raised Eggs: potential Salmonella
• Sno Pac/Del Mar Frozen Spinach: potential Salmonella
• Signature Enoki Mushrooms: potential Listeria

FreshByte Software provides state-of-the-art traceability to help wholesale food distributors keep track of recalls and keep U.S. consumers healthy. Contact FreshByte today to learn more about their software, which features intuitive workflows, real-time insights, and automation.