Listeria recall has expanded to nearly 12 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry items

An ongoing listeria recall from BrucePac has been reissued on Tuesday to include an additional 1,779,040 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry items that may be contaminated. The recall has expanded to a total of 11,765,285 pounds of products.

In an announcement made on Oct. 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) specified that some of the additional meat and poultry products were distributed to schools nationwide. An explicit school distribution list is not available at this time, the agency said.

The recalled foods, produced by the Oklahoma-based company BrucePac, were sold at major retailers nationwide, including Trader Joe's, Walmart, Aldi, Target, HEB, Giant Eagle and Kroger. The recall also includes specific brand names like Jenny Craig, Boston Market, Amazon Fresh, Rao's and Dole. A complete list of all the recalled products and photos of their product labels can be found here.

The recall was initiated on Oct. 9 after samples of RTE poultry products (defined as products that are fully cooked before packaging) produced by BrucePac tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes during routine testing conducted by FSIS. “Subsequent FSIS investigation identified BrucePac RTE chicken as the source of the Listeria monocytogenes,” the announcement added.

The recalled items were produced from May 31, 2024 to October 8, 2024. They mainly include prepared salads, rice or pasta bowls containing potentially contaminated chicken or turkey, per Today.

“FSIS is concerned that some products may be available for use in restaurants, institutions, schools and other establishments . . .” the updated announcement said. “These other establishments may have used affected meat and poultry in RTE products that may be on store shelves or in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers.”

“Restaurants, institutions, schools and other establishments are urged not to serve or use these products. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.”

At this time, no illnesses or any “confirmed reports of adverse reactions” have been tied to the recalled products.