A Recent Veggie Recall Just Hit The Highest Risk Level. Here's What We Know

Shoppers who have purchased 5-ounce packages of Alfalfa and Alfalfa Onion sprouts, especially in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, should throw them away. Jack and the Green Sprouts, Inc., a company based in Wisconsin, has voluntarily recalled packages of its Alfalfa and Alfalfa Onion Sprouts due to potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Affected products include:

• Alfalfa Lot number 048 and 777, expiration dates between September 18 and 25, 2024.

• Alfalfa Lot number 300, expiration date October 9, 2024.

• Alfalfa Lot number 246, expiration date October 11, 2024.

• Alfalfa & Onions Lot number 300, expiration date October 9, 2024.

The packages were recalled on October 4th but were recently bumped up to a Class 1 risk by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Class 1 recalls are serious, as the FDA defines them as "a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death." Most likely this will join our list of the biggest food recalls of 2024.

The FDA does not tolerate any presence of Listeria monocytogenes in food, and will issue recalls at any detection level. It's a bacteria that can grow and spread even at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, making it difficult to control. It's not a rare contaminant — earlier this month 10 million pounds of meat was found to be contaminated with Listeria.

Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogenic bacteria that can kill those with weakened immune systems as well as pre-term or newborn infants. It can affect everyone and its symptoms include fever, chills, headaches, and intestinal distress. Symptoms typically appear within 1 to 2 weeks but can affect the patient anywhere from within a couple of days and up to 3 months after infection.

Time will tell if this will affect the perception of Jack and the Green Sprouts. Big recalls have a history of sticking with consumers, such as the recalls that still haunt Kroger.