Hundreds of Ready-to-Eat Foods Recalled for Listeria

Reser's Fine Foods is recalling hundreds of refrigerated ready-to-eat items over listeria contamination. They were distributed nationwide and in Canada, at retailers including Safeway, Walmart and 7-Eleven.

The recall, which expanded Oct. 26, covers everything from pasta and potato salad to chicken, fish and other items, including hundreds of different kinds of salads. All of the recalled products were produced at Reser's plant in Topeka, Kansas. The company is based in Beaverton, Ore. The original recall was announced Oct. 22.

The product is sold in retail and food service establishments. The packages will be marked with a Use-by-Date or Best By Date and followed by a plant identifier code of 20. Affected brands include 7-Eleven, Block and Barrel, Casa Solana, Dillons, Reser's, Safeway, Sysco, Walmart and Yum. Click Food and Drug Administration after Canadian health authorities discovered the listeria contamination through microbiological testing. FDA inspectors visited the Kansas plant and found the possibility for cross contamination, so asked the company to recall everything produced at the plant.

“Our greatest concern is food safety; therefore, we are acting with speed and focusing on plant sanitation, increased testing and food handling practices while we continue to investigate,” the food company's president, Mark Reser, said in a statement.

Reser said there have been no confirmed illnesses associated with the recall. Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in vulnerable people, as well as stillbirths and miscarriages.

Consumers are being asked to discard the recalled items or to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. For more information, call the company's hotline at 888-257-7913.

And if you go to any holiday parties this week, don't eat the potato salad!

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