(NewsNation) — Federal health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain heat-and-eat beef meatball pasta meals sold at Walmart stores because they may be contaminated with listeria bacteria previously linked to a deadly outbreak.
The U.S. Agriculture Department issued a public health alert late Thursday for Marketside Linguine with Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce sold in refrigerated 12-ounce clear plastic trays. The products have best-by dates of Sept. 22 through Oct. 1 and may still be in consumer’s refrigerators.
The affected meals contain the establishment numbers “EST. 50784” and “EST. 47718” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the label. They were sent to Walmart stores nationwide.
No recall has been issued, but FreshRealm, a large food producer that distributed the products, said they advised Walmart this week to pull the meals from store shelves. Additional products may be identified, according to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The meals may be contaminated with the same strain of listeria that caused an outbreak tied to chicken fettuccine Alfredo sold at Walmart and Kroger stores. Three people were killed and at least 17 were sickened in that outbreak, which led to a large recall this summer.
Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.