An L.A.-based food company done went and pulled a bunch of its premade grub from businesses all over California and three other states after federal regulators discovered a strain of listeria on its equipment that was linked to an outbreak first found last year, which has gotten at least 10 people sick. Fresh & Ready Foods, hailing from San Fernando, decided to recall a bunch of its premade sammies and protein snacks, including different types of ham and turkey sandwiches, egg salad sammies, tuna pasta, and a street corn dipper snack. These items were being sold under three different brands: Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market Fresh Food to Go, and Fresh Take Crave Away. The recalled food was distributed between April 18 and 28 this year in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Washington. It was supposed to be sold in vending machines and other spots like hospitals, hotels, convenience stores, airports, and even by airlines. The items being recalled have “Use by” dates ranging from April 22 through May 19. The recall happened ’cause during a regular inspection this April at a Fresh & Ready facility, inspectors found a strain of listeria monocytogenes on a piece of equipment, according to news releases put out by the company and federal officials. Workers at Fresh & Ready then got rid of the equipment and took other steps to fix the problem, the company said in a statement. Symptoms of a listeria infection include fever, muscle aches, fatigue, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and even seizures, according to the CDC. It can also lead to intestinal issues like diarrhea and vomiting. Pregnant folks are especially at risk ’cause a listeria infection during pregnancy can cause a miscarriage, stillbirth, or premature birth. It can also be life-threatening for the baby. Other folks who are more vulnerable to a listeria infection are adults 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC. The outbreak was first spotted in 2024 when officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started looking into a group of people who got sick from listeria. They didn’t have enough proof to figure out where the outbreak came from. But when they found the listeria on the Fresh & Ready equipment this year, scientists at the FDA used whole genome sequencing analysis and confirmed that the strain of listeria on the equipment matched the strain making people sick in the 2024 outbreak. This made officials reopen their investigation. No one has gotten sick from the recalled food yet, and instead, Fresh & Ready took the items off the shelves “as a precautionary measure to ensure the continued safety of our consumers,” the company said in a statement released on Saturday. In 2024, at least eight people got sick from tainted products in California and two more in Nevada, according to the CDC. State and local health officials talked to six of the people who got listeria and found out they had been in the hospital before getting sick from the bacteria. Ready-to-eat foods made by Fresh & Ready Foods were served in at least three of the facilities where the sick patients had been. If you bought any of the food listed in the recall, you should toss it out right away, the company said. Consumers can reach out to Fresh & Ready Foods at RecallConcern@HotLineGlobal.com or call (855) 424-8390 from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday to ask questions or request a full refund.
