Listeria fears has sparked a massive nationwide recall of frozen vegetables and fruits that includes major name brands.
A food supplier in Washington just expanded a voluntary recall because of a Listeria outbreak.
"Listeria is a bacteria that is in the environment that unfortunately likes to grow in our food," Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease physician at the University of Kansas Hospital, said.
The recall from CRF Frozen Foods covers more than 350 frozen vegetable and fruit products sold under 42 different brands. It includes organic and traditional products.
The outbreak has already sickened seven people in three states. As of now, none of them in Missouri or Kansas.
"We see it infrequently here," Hawkinson said. "But we're always aware and we always look for it."
Hawkinson adds Listeria can hit even healthy adults.
"Anywhere from one to six days after ingesting some food, it's usually a light gastrointestinal illness, you may have some fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, but you recover after a couple of days, it's pretty self-limited," he said.
The recalled products were sold in all 50 states at retailers including Costco, Trader Joe's and Walmart.
"I think if you want to be smart about it, I think it would be a good idea to maybe just discard that type of food," Hawkinson said.
He adds you want to make sure you take your frozen sides and rinse them thoroughly.
The full list of products impacted can be found on the FDA's website.
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com
