A listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat sandwiches and snacks has sickened at least 10 people in the U.S., and a producer is voluntarily recalling dozens of products sold to retail stores, hospitals, hotels, airports and airlines, federal officials said.
The products were made by Fresh & Ready Foods LLC and were sold in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington.
Those who fell ill and were hospitalized were in California and Nevada. The outbreak has been simmering for many months: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cases date to December 2023.
Listeria poisoning is caused by a particularly resilient type of bacteria that can survive and grow even during refrigeration. About 1,600 people are infected with it — and 260 die — each year in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Here’s what you need to know:
The voluntary recall covers more than 80 specific products distributed between April 18 and April 25. The products have “Use By” dates from April 22 to May 19.
Brand names include: Fresh & Ready Foods, City Point Market Fresh Food to Go and Fresh Take Crave Away.
Federal officials say anyone with the products should throw them away or return them. They also suggest cleaning any surfaces that touched the recalled foods.
Listeria bacteria thrive in moist environments, including soil and water and decaying vegetation and are carried by some animals.
The hardy germs are typically spread when food is harvested, processed, transported or stored in places that are contaminated with the bacteria.
When the bacteria get into a food processing plant, they can be tough to eradicate.
Foods contaminated with the bacteria can make people sick. Symptoms can be mild and include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More serious illness can include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.
Listeria poisoning is tricky because symptoms can start quickly, within a few hours or days after eating contaminated food. But they also can take weeks or up to three months to show up.
Those most vulnerable to getting sick include the very young, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.
Listeria can survive and grow in refrigerated food. It can be killed by heating foods to “steaming hot,” or 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius), the CDC says. But that's not always possible — or palatable — for foods that are made to be eaten cold.
Because listeria can survive under refrigeration, it’s important to clean and sanitize any surfaces, including refrigerator drawers and shelves, that may have come in contact with the products.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - A sign marks the entrance to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, on Oct. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
JERUSALEM (AP) — President Donald Trump announced early Sunday that the U.S. had rescued an aviator nearly two days after he was shot down over Iran.
The extraction came after a frantic search in what appears to be a remote, mountainous region of Iran. A second crew member had been rescued Friday, soon after the F-15E Strike Eagle crashed. It was the first U.S. aircraft to be downed by Iranian fire since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28.
“This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!”
Here’s what we know about the rescue:
The operation began with a deception campaign launched by the CIA, a senior U.S. administration official said Sunday.
Before locating the airman, the CIA spread word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already found him and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public. The campaign managed to confuse Iranian officials while the agency conducted its search and rescue operations, the official said.
Those operations involved “dozens of aircraft,” armed with lethal weaponry, Trump said. Iran had promised a sizable reward to anyone who captured the service member.
“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,” Trump wrote.
The difficult rescue came after a Friday operation to save the first airman was conducted in “broad daylight,” Trump wrote. He said the White House had avoided confirming the rescue to avoid jeopardizing the search for the second aviator.
Trump said the airman held the rank of colonel and had been seriously wounded. Nonetheless, Trump said he would be “just fine."
Trump gave no details about the first crewman's condition.
Iran’s state TV showed a picture of black smoke from what it said were a destroyed American transport plane and two helicopters.
A regional intelligence official briefed on the mission said the U.S. military was forced to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue due to a technical malfunction. The official said the U.S. blew up two transport planes it was forced to leave because of the mishap. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert mission.
Iranian state media on Friday also said a second U.S. plane — an A-10 aircraft — crashed after being hit by Iranian forces. The U.S. military has not commented on the status of that aircraft or its crew.
Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, black smoke rises into the air at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site where an American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation were shot down, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)
In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)
In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)
