Listeria Outbreak Linked to Packaged Salad Kills Two & Sickens 17

A severe listeria outbreak has claimed the lives of two people and sickened nearly two dozen others in several states.

On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the outbreak had been linked to packaged salads made by Dole and sold under 11 different brands, including Dole, Kroger, and Nature’s Promise. The infection has swept 13 states and left 17 people ill, in addition to the two who died. The illness onset dates back to August 14th, 2014, with the most recent on December 30th, 2021.

The CDC initially investigated this outbreak in 2019 and 2020 but could not gather enough data to identify the origin. The agency reopened the probe in November 2021, when four new infections were reported since the end of August 2021.

The impacted salad products originated from a Dole plant in Springfield, Ohio, and another facility in Soledad, California.

In recent months, listeria outbreaks and concerns have heavily plagued salad distributors. In late December, Dole recalled packaged salads processed at one of their facilities in Bessemer City, North Carolina, and Yuma, Arizona, due to contamination. The CDC is also looking into another listeria incident linked to Fresh Express packaged salads. That separate outbreak resulted in one death and ten hospitalizations.

Listeria affects nearly 1,600 people in the U.S. annually, with about 260 people dying from the illness. Symptoms include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache, and neck stiffness.