Kroger Recalls Two Pasta Salads Tied to Listeria Outbreak

Kroger Co. has voluntarily recalled two prepared pasta salads sold in deli counters and grab-and-go cases at nearly 1,860 Kroger-owned stores across roughly 28 to 30 states after the company was notified that the pasta ingredient might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, federal regulators said early this month. The recall affects Basil Pesto Bowtie Salad and Smoked Mozzarella Penne Salad that were sold from late August through early October.

The Food and Drug Administration posted the recall after Fresh Creative Foods, a supplier for Kroger, informed the retailer that pasta provided by Nates Fine Foods of Roseville, California, could be contaminated. Nates Fine Foods separately issued a large recall of precooked pasta, totaling nearly 245,000 pounds, after testing linked its product to the same strain of Listeria found in other ready-to-eat meals under investigation. The multistate outbreak has been associated with about 20 illnesses and four deaths, including a fetal death, according to public health agencies tracking the incident.

Kroger said it removed the recalled salads from store shelves and has initiated customer notifications via register tape messages and...