The big listeria meat recall has hit Costco chicken

Another day, another contaminated food product that Americans have to keep an eye out for. This time it’s from Costco (COST), which told customers earlier this month that some of its ready-made meal kits might have been contaminated with listeria.

Costco alerted customers of the recall for products that include Rana Chicken Truffle Carbonara and Tagliatelle Grilled White Chicken & Portabello Mushroom Sauce, in an Oct. 11 letter that became public in news reports on Friday.

“Costco records indicate that you, or one of your add-on members, have purchased one or more of items 1844072 Rana Chicken Truffle Carbonara and/or 1102200 Tagliatelle Grilled White Chicken & Portobello Mushroom Sauce between September 2024 and October 2024,” the retailer wrote in the letter.

It is offering full refunds to people who bought the products.

The Costco products join a list of frozen foods that have been sold by other retailers including Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Amazon, and add to millions of pounds of meat that have been recalled in recent week because of listeria concerns.

The recall alert was triggered by a voluntary recall issued by BrucePac Foods, a Costco chicken product supplier, based on the discovery of listeria. Some of its chicken was used in the Rana Meal Solutions meal kits.

Read more: A meat recall for listeria has grown to 12 million pounds. Here are 15 products affected

Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious listeriosis infections in young children, elderly people, and people with weakened immune systems. The FDA also warns that listeria infections could cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. Even among healthy people, a listeria infection can lead to symptoms including high fever, headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

Northeastern University food safety advisor and professor Dr. Darin Detwiler said there have been more listeria advisories because testing for the bacteria has made it easier to detect. But there have also been other factors, such as a massive reorganization at the Food and Drug Administration.

“What we’re seeing is likely a perfect storm of factors: regulatory transitions, pandemic-related inspection gaps, increased detection capabilities, and economic pressures,” he said. “Together, these elements have led to a surge in recalls.”

— Francisco Velasquez and Bruce Gil contributed to this article.