– OPINION –
Nearly six months (that's right, six months!) after Fresh Realm's ready-to-heat meals were initially linked to a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak and initial recalls were conducted, the illnesses continue, and pasta as an ingredient from another supplier (Nate's Fine Foods) is now contributing to wave of recalls of various pasta products containing products caused by ingredients sold by retailers.
While this issue seems ripe for more transparent investigations by both public health officials and the media so that we can all learn from it and prevent something like this from happening again, here are some aspects of the frank conversation that are not making news.
- Additional illnesses and deaths continue to occur per CDC Epi Curve went well beyond the initial investigation and recall in June 2025.
- This means additional illnesses, deaths and recalls could have been prevented if a proper investigation into the root causes had been carried out back in June.
- Remember that simply recalling a product during an outbreak is not enough. We need to push for more thorough investigations into root causes by both the public and private sectors to determine exactly what went wrong and prevent a recurrence.
- The investigation into this outbreak could be complex because it involved two federal agencies: the FDA and the USDA.
- As previously reported, the FDA's last recorded inspection of the pasta supplier took place in May of this year, a month before the initial outbreak was reported, and resulted in an NAI, meaning “no action indicated,” because no objectionable conditions or practices were found. The report can be found Here.
- How did regulators, as well as the company, overlook the issue of repeated contamination of cooked pasta with Listeria monocytogenes? The consequences of this failure are costly.
- And where is the outrage? Outrage associated with foodborne illness outbreaks appears to be selective, affecting some but not others.
- Because of the initial missteps, the involvement of multiple federal regulatory agencies, and the ongoing nature of preventable diseases, it appears that this issue is ripe for oversight, whether from the agencies themselves, the GAO, or Congress, so that we can all learn from this and get better.
- Another interesting aspect is that most retailers require annual GFSI audits of their suppliers. Although I have not seen any third party inspection reports, I suspect that they, too, like the federal investigators, failed to identify the risk and inadequate preventive controls on the part of the company during their inspections.
- But finally, let me be clear: Producing safe food is first and foremost the responsibility of the producer. It is clear that the food manufacturer, in this case Nate's Fine Foods, either failed to identify listeria as a foreseeable risk, reindexing it based on the assumption that the product would be thoroughly reheated by consumers before consumption, and/or failed to implement adequate controls. It could be a combination of these factors and many others.
Bottom line. We CAN do better.
It is imperative to learn lessons from such tragic incidents so that they never happen again.
Consumers deserve this from us.
About the author: Frank Yiannas is a food safety leader and executive, food system futurist, author, professor, former president of the International Food Defense Association, and consumer advocate. Most recently, he served in two different administrations as Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He held this position from 2018 to 2023, spending 30 years in leadership positions at two industry giants: Walmart and the Walt Disney Company.
