A Walmart-brand lemon Alfredo fettuccine is being pulled over possible Listeria

Walmart’s bettergoods label sits on a frozen pasta that state laboratories flagged for Listeria monocytogenes. Gias Foods, Inc. of New York is recalling bettergoods Authentic Italian Lemon Alfredo Fettuccine, a 22-ounce yellow plastic package, after routine sampling by two state agriculture departments found that finished product may contain the bacteria.

The FDA notice, dated October 1, 2026, says the fettuccine was distributed nationwide at Walmart stores and that no illnesses had been reported.

Which package is covered

The FDA notice identifies the product by name, size and bar code: a frozen 22-ounce package carrying UPC 194346442706. It states that all lot codes of bettergoods Authentic Italian Lemon Alfredo Fettuccine are affected, so there is no narrower date range for a shopper to check; the UPC and the name are the identifiers. Gias Foods ceased distribution of the product, in the notice’s words, “as FDA and the company continue their investigation.” The notice lists the company’s address in New York and does not name another retailer besides Walmart.

From two named lots to all lots

Earlier coverage described a narrower recall. Fox television stations, in a report dated September 22, named the same 22-ounce package and UPC but listed two lots, L6079C and L6080C, with expiration dates of September 19 and 20, 2027. The FDA’s October 1 notice contains no lot restriction and says all lot codes are affected, so a package whose lot code does not match the earlier list is still covered. The shift from two lots to all lots is the main departure from the earlier reporting, and it is the first detail a shopper holding a package should check.

Two state agencies and a routine sampling program

The trigger was not a consumer complaint. The recall stems, according to the notice, from a routine sampling program run by the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which revealed that the finished products may contain the bacteria. The Washington department’s food safety program covers food processors and maintains a microbiology laboratory that performs food testing, which is the kind of work that surfaces a hit before anyone gets sick.

The notice uses the word “may” because a positive sampling result establishes that the bacteria were found in a sample, not that any particular package on a shelf is contaminated. It also reports no illnesses to date, and the FDA’s recalls index lists the entry under the product category pasta with the stated concern of potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Listeria in a frozen product

The notice carries no count of packages and no illness data, only the product identifiers, the nationwide Walmart distribution and the statement that no illnesses have been reported to date. That leaves the sampling result as the whole evidentiary basis for the recall: a finding by two state laboratories, in finished product, that the bacteria may be present. The agencies’ programs are routine, which means the sample was drawn in the ordinary course of food safety surveillance rather than in response to a cluster of sick patients.

The notice describes the bacteria as capable of causing “serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people” and others with weakened immune systems. In healthy people, it lists high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and for pregnant women it warns of miscarriage and stillbirth. Bettergoods is Walmart’s private-label food brand, and Gias Foods is the New York company named as the recalling firm.

A freezer does not neutralize this organism. The FDA’s Listeria page says it can survive and grow even under refrigeration, and notes that freezing slows growth without eliminating it, which is why a frozen pasta can still be the subject of a recall. The same page names pregnant women, adults over 65 and people with weakened immune systems as the groups most at risk, and describes the milder gastrointestinal illness (fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) as separate from the invasive form, which brings headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. In pregnancy, according to the FDA, infection can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery or a life-threatening infection of the newborn, because the bacteria can cross the placenta.

The scale of the disease behind such recalls is modest but lethal. The CDC estimates that about 1,250 people in the United States contract listeriosis each year, with around 172 deaths, which makes it the fourth leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the country.

That ratio of roughly one death for every seven cases is why a pasta with no reported illnesses still triggers a nationwide notice. The open item in the FDA record is the same one the notice states: the agency and Gias Foods are still investigating.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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