Another nationwide meat recall is underway over Listeria contamination—and its far more formidable than the last.
As of October 15, meat supplier BrucePac, of Durant, Oklahoma, is recalling 11.8 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products after routine federal safety testing found Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially deadly bacterium, in samples of the company's poultry. The finding triggered an immediate recall, which was first issued on October 9. But, officials are still working to understand the extent of the contamination—and struggling to identify the hundreds of potentially contaminated products.
"Because we sell to other companies who resell, repackage, or use our products as ingredients in other foods, we do not have a list of retail products that contain our recalled items," BrucePac said in a statement updated October 15.
Depending on the packaging, the products may have establishment numbers 51205 or P-51205 inside or under the USDA mark of inspection. But, for now, consumers' best chance of determining whether they've purchased any of the affected products is to look through a 342-page list of products identified by the US Department of Agriculture so far.
The unorganized document lists fresh and frozen foods sold at common retailers, including 7-Eleven, Aldi, Amazon Fresh, Giant Eagle, Kroger, Target, Trader Joe's, Walmart, and Wegmans. Affected products carry well-known brand names, such as Atkins, Boston Market, Dole, Fresh Express, Jenny Craig, Michelina’s, Taylor Farms, and stores' brands, such as Target's Good & Gather. The recalled products were made between May 31, 2024 and October 8, 2024.
In the latest update, the USDA noted that some of the recalled products were also distributed to schools, but the agency hasn't identified the schools that received the products. Restaurants and other institutions also received the products.