ALERT: Frozen Meals Sold At Kroger, Walmart & Trader Joe’s Linked To De*dly Outbreak

At least four deaths and 19 hospitalizations have been linked to frozen ready meals contaminated with listeria.

The CDC issued a health warning due to pasta meals sold at Kroger, Walmart, and Trader Joe’s, Daily Mail reports.

“FreshRealm, a meal manufacturer, recalled its chicken fettuccine Alfredo meals, which were distributed nationwide to Kroger and Walmart, in June,” The New York Times reports.

“The meals were sold under the brand names Marketside and Home Chef,” it added.

Multistate Listeria outbreak tied to packaged meals expands

Twenty people in 15 states have been now sickened in the outbreak, and 4 have died.https://t.co/fqTgxMeIvQ pic.twitter.com/cVfbCBhuuJ

— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) September 29, 2025

Daily Mail has more:

The listeria outbreak has been traced to beef meatball marinara linguine and chicken fettuccine alfredo meals made by New Jersey-headquartered FreshRealm. These were distributed and sold by the retailers across the US.

While all of the compromised products have been recalled and are no longer on sale, health officials fear they could still be in home refrigerators or freezers.

It is believed that the true number of people impacted by the outbreak is likely higher than the number reported as many cases are undiagnosed.

Health officials say this is because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for Listeria.

In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes three to four weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.

The deaths occurred in Illinois, Michigan, Texas and Utah and the CDC notes that ‘this outbreak may not have been limited to the states with known illnesses.’

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert last week over the pasta meals.

Anyone with the product in their freezer is advised to throw it out or return it to the store.

USDA issues health warning for Walmart heat-and-eat pasta meals over link to deadly listeria outbreak https://t.co/OtxwggJFDH pic.twitter.com/I7Bneh9e4I

— New York Post (@nypost) September 27, 2025

The New York Times provided further info:

The latest alert, issued on Thursday by the federal Food Safety and Inspection Service, added Cajun-style blackened chicken breast fettuccine Alfredo from Trader Joe’s and linguine with beef meatballs from Walmart to the list of frozen pasta meals that may be contaminated with the listeria bacteria linked to the outbreak.

A Walmart spokesperson said that the company had removed the product from its stores and was working with the supplier to investigate the possible contamination.

FreshRealm conducted tests that detected the outbreak strain in the linguine with beef meatballs product from Walmart. The source of the listeria was pasta supplied by a third party, a company spokesperson said. Trader Joe’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement in June, FreshRealm urged consumers who had purchased the products in the voluntary recall to destroy them or return them. It also said it remained “committed to the highest standards” of food safety while collaborating with an investigation looking into the source of the bacteria.

Additional coverage below: