Popular Pasta Items Sold At Walmart Recalled Over Risk of 'Deadly' Listeria Contamination

If an artist were to examine a bowl of fettuccine Alfredo, they’d probably be wonderstruck by the visuals obscured within the strands of pasta. Fettuccine, which translates to “little ribbons,” is worshipped for its velvety folds and exquisite glaze thanks to mammoth dollops of butter that the noodles are dumped in. The beige glisten of this butter paired with a colorful cocktail of ingredients often tickles the eater pink. If this isn’t enough, then come the flavors too.

The sizzling ribbons of fettuccine perform a tap dance on the tongue, with subtle garlic tones and milky texture of parmigiano cheese whispering in the background. Currently, however, fettuccine is not the same anymore. From pasta, it has turned into creepypasta. In a press release, FreshRealm initiated a voluntary recall for three of its fettuccine Alfredo pasta products because a deadly bacterium called “Listeria” has crept inside the noodles.

The recall was announced on June 17 by FreshRealm and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) collectively. Three varieties of the brand’s ready-to-eat chicken fettuccine pasta were recalled due to the possible contamination with Listeria. The recalled products were sold nationwide at Walmart, under the Marketside brand, and Kroger, under the Home Chef brand.

Details of the recalled products

Two of the recalled varieties included Marketside’s “Grilled Chicken Alfredo with Fettuccine, tender pasta with creamy alfredo sauce, white meat chicken, and shaved Parmesan cheese.” One variety included 32.8-oz.. tray packages with a best-by date of June 27, 2025, while the other included 12.3 oz. tray packages with the  best-by-date of 26th June, 2025. The third variety of recalled products was 12.5 oz. tray packages containing Home Chef’s Heat & Eat Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with pasta, grilled white meat chicken, and Parmesan cheese, with a best-by date of 19th June, 2025.

All the recalled products featured the USDA mark of inspection on the product label as well as establishment numbers “EST. P-50784, “EST. P-47770,” or “EST. P-47718” printed on the side of the packaging. The products were distributed across FreshRealm establishments in San Clemente (California), Montezuma (Georgia), and Indianapolis, Indiana. The brand has already notified Walmart and Kroger to remove the recalled pastas from their shelves. Customers who have already purchased are advised to toss it in their wastebasket or return it to the place of purchase for a refund.

Ongoing investigation

“The investigation will focus on how Listeria may have entered the product, and whether it entered from a FreshRealm facility, or through any of the ingredients that FreshRealm received from external ingredient suppliers,” officials at FreshRealm stated in the press release. They added that the brand is committed to providing the highest standards of food safety and is closely working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to investigate the issue.

What is Listeria?

According to the FDA, Listeria monocytogenes is “a type of disease-causing bacteria that can be found in many places, including soil, water, sewage, rotting vegetation, and animals.” The bacteria are usually transmitted under unsanitary food manufacturing conditions. What makes it deadly is that it can survive even under refrigeration. If a person consumes food contaminated with Listeria, they develop a disease called “Listeriosis.”

Symptoms of Listeriosis

The symptoms can range from mild to severe to extremely invasive. Often, they start with muscle aches, nausea, headaches, or vomiting, moving on to more invasive and life-threatening ones, especially for those with a weakened immune system. The easiest targets of this bacteria are newborns, adults aged over 65, and pregnant women.

No illnesses reported so far

Although the brand declared that it has not received any direct reports of illnesses associated with the recalled pasta products, the FDA has shared reports of 17 Listeria cases tied to this outbreak in 13 states. “The recalled product has not been established as a cause of any of these cases,” the manufacturer clarified.