--- title: Listeria Monocytogenes Outbreak Leads to CRF Recalls description: An outbreak of the bacteria listeria has caused a frozen food company to recall close to 360 frozen food products. canonical: https://time.com/4344671/listeria-monocytogenes-outbreak-recall-symptoms/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-23T14:40:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:45:31.026Z article:section: Health og:title: What to Know About the Massive Listeria Outbreak og:description: Frozen food is the culprit og:url: https://time.com/4344671/listeria-monocytogenes-outbreak-recall-symptoms/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About the Massive Listeria Outbreak twitter:description: Frozen food is the culprit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # What to Know About the Massive Listeria Outbreak > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 23, 2016 2:40 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 23, 2016 2:40 PM UTC **Correction appended, May 24** An [outbreak of the bacteria listeria](http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/frozen-vegetables-05-16/index.html) has caused a frozen food company to recall close to 360 frozen food products. The recent outbreak of _Listeria_ _monocytogenes_ is just the latest in a series of recalls associated with listeria. The bacteria can cause fever and aches as well as stomach problems and diarrhea. Listeria also grows well in refrigerator temperatures, which is why it can contaminate frozen food as well as deli products like cheese. So far, the outbreak has spanned three states, and two people affected later died. The company, CRF Frozen Foods of Pasco, Wash., has recalled about 358 products that it sold under 42 different brand names. [According to Food Safety News](http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/05/problems-found-at-frozen-food-plant-linked-to-outbreak/#.V0MP3pMrJUR), damaged equipment at the processing plant which has been described by federal investigators as impossible to clean could be a part of the problem. The outbreak also spans three years, with cases beginning in September 2013.[ As TIME has previously reported](http://time.com/4234080/food-safety-chipotle-listeria/), health authorities are using new technologies to connect cases of illness from different states over many years to ongoing outbreaks as a way to better understand the scope of the contamination. [Various brands of sunflower seeds](http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/22/health/listeria-concerns-recall/), salad dressings and trail mix are [also being recalled](http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/) due to listeria contamination unrelated to CRF Frozen Foods. The bacteria listeria was also behind the[ 2015 Blue Bell outbreak](http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/ice-cream-03-15/), which required the company to shut down production and recall its entire ice cream product line. The business is also [reportedly under investigation](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/01/health/blue-bell-listeria-criminal-investigation/) by the Department of Justice. [According to](http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/listeria/index.html) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1,600 Americans get sick from Listeria every year, and it is the third leading cause of death from food poisoning. **Correction**: The original version of this story incorrectly described the toll of the listeria outbreak. 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