Deadly Food Recalls Poisoning America

Breaking news! We track a surge in food recalls from plastic in peanut butter to listeria in deli ham, explain why detection outpaces prevention, and share steps to reduce risk at home and on the go. My personal listeria story shows how to self-advocate when the system shrugs.

Chapters

• 0:00 Urgent Recall Rundown
• 0:25 Peanut Butter Plastic Recall Details
• 5:00 Systemic Failures And Rising Outbreaks
• 6:07 E. Coli In Beef And Produce
• 8:53  PFAS In Juice And Packaging
• 12:08 Broader Outbreaks And Human Impact
• 13:06 Listeria Deep Dive And Personal Story
• 25:03 Advocacy, Expert Guidance, And Next Steps

• plastic contamination in single-serve peanut butter and how to verify lot numbers
• E. coli in ground beef and organic produce with practical cooking and washing tips
• PFAS concerns in juice and packaging and ways to cut exposure
• listeria risks in ready-to-eat meats and symptom timelines
• detection vs prevention and why recalls are rising
• how to check FDA and USDA recall lists weekly
• home food safety routines that stack real protection
• self-advocacy with doctors using records, recalls, and escalation paths

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Transcript

Urgent Recall Rundown

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi wellness warriors, welcome to a bonus episode of New Normal Big Life. There is important health and wellness news I want to share with you. We're seeing plastic contamination in peanut butter, E. coli in several products, PFAS and orange juice, and listeria and deli ham. I'll explain what's going on and give you practical steps to help keep your family safe. Stay tuned for advice you can use. Breaking news from February 12, 2026. In a chilling wave of food safety failures, a nationwide peanut butter recall has exposed hidden dangers and everyday pantry staples, blue plastic shards and single-served packets distributed across 40 states. Before we get deeper, I recommend checking the FDA's recall list at least once a week and making it a habit to glance over your packaging for damage or strange smells before eating. A simple step like thoroughly washing all fresh produce, even pre-cut or bagged products, can dramatically lower your risk of bacteria like E. coli and listeria. You can find a link to the FDA recalls in the show description. Hi friends, welcome to the New Normal Big Life Podcast, where we bring you natural and integrative health information and stories about nature that we hope will inspire you to get outside an adventure, along with a step-by-step plan to help you practice what you've learned, create your own new normal, and live the biggest life you can dream. I'm your host, Antoinette Lee, the Wellness Warrior. Let's get into today's topic. E. coli outbreaks have affected ground beef, organic carrots, and fast food burgers, leading to serious illness and even deaths. A recent lawsuit claims simply orange juice contains high levels of toxic forever chemicals, or PFAS, PFAS, which challenges its all-natural reputation. In 2023, there was also a listeria alert for Kirkland signature ham sold at Costco. My own family was affected by this outbreak, and it took us two years to get help for our symptoms. These recalls show how tough bacteria can survive in ready-to-eat foods, even in pre-cut fruit. As more recalls happen and illnesses arise, experts say our food supply needs stronger protections. Let's get into today's topic. Imagine reaching into your pantry for a quick snack, a simple packet of creamy peanut butter, maybe spread it on toast or paired with jelly for a nostalgic treat. Now picture discovering that same product could harbor shards of blue plastic, sharp enough to cause choking or internal injuries. This isn't a hypothetical nightmare, it's the reality unfolding across 40 states where Ventura Foods LLC has voluntarily recalled over 22,000 single-served peanut butter items. The contamination detected during routine manufacturing treks in April 2025 prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, to classify it as a Class II recall. However, on February 12, 2026, 10 months after the product's voluntary recall, according to the FDA's enforcement report, the products may contain pieces of plastic which pose a safety risk. No illnesses have been reported yet, but the recall underscores a broader crisis. Our food supply is increasingly vulnerable to contaminants that evade detection until it's too late. The affected products distributed to food service outlets like restaurants and institutions include creamy peanut butter packets in various sizes and twin packs with jam or jelly. Brands such as U.S. Foods, Cisco, SYSCO, and Gordon Food Service are implicated, spanning states from Alabama to Washington. You can see a complete list of states involved in the recall in the show description. Ventura Foods based in Brea, California, initiated the pullback after plastic fragments were found in a production filter, as the FDA notes in its database under Event ID 96817. This extraneous material contamination could lead to temporary or medically reversible adverse health risks, the FDA says. Consumers are urged to discard matching items and contact suppliers for refunds and to seek medical advice for any symptoms such as mouth injuries or digestive distress. But this peanut butter fiasco is merely a symptom of a larger epidemic. Food recalls aren't isolated incidents. They're a symptomatic of a systemic flaw in production, distribution, and oversight. In 2025 alone, the FDA investigated over 30 multi-state outbreaks, many unsolved, sickening hundreds of people. Hospitalizations and deaths from contaminated food doubled in 2024 compared to prior years, and recalls for pathogens such as salmonella, listeria, and E. coli surged by 40%. Experts like Darren Detweiler, a food safety professor at Northwestern University, attributed this to advanced testing that uncovers more issues, as well as the persistent gaps in prevention. We need food producers to be accountable and make sure that the government plays its role in verifying that food safety systems are working as intended, says food safety expert Barbara Colwick. This bacterium, often linked to fecal contamination in water or undercooked meat, can cause severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and even kidney failure. In February 2026, CS Beef Packers LLC recalled 22,000 pounds of raw ground beef potentially tainted with E. coli 0145, produced on January 14th and distributed to California, Idaho, and Oregon. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, FSIS, flagged it as a high-risk Class 1 recall, warning that consumption could lead to serious illness. The raw ground beef items were produced on January 14, 2026. The FSIS report states urging immediate disposal or return. This echoes a December 2025 recall by Mountain West Food Group LLC pulling 2,855 pounds of ground beef contaminated with E. coli 026 from six states. These incidents highlight how E. coli infiltrates supply chains, often through irrigation, water, or cross contamination. This potentially deadly produce sparks a food recall. Grimway Farms recalled bagged organic carrots in 2024 due to possible E. coli linked to an outbreak affecting multiple states. The products were sold under several labels such as Bunny Love, Grimway Farms, Market Side, O Organics, and Trader Joe's, according to the Washington State Department of Health. This outbreak hospitalized dozens underscoring vulnerabilities in organic farming where manure-based fertilizers can harbor bacteria if not properly composted. Dr. Donald Schaefer, a Rutgers University professor, offers a perspective. I think outbreaks are random events, and sometimes random events are spread apart, and sometimes they come close together. Yet the CDC data showing multi-state investigations averaging 17 to 36 weekly randomness feels like a pattern. The CDC's table of current outbreaks lists ongoing threats from raw oysters to moringa powder, all linked to pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli. As we delve deeper, the story expands beyond bacteria to insidious chemicals infiltrating our beverages. And part two, we'll uncover the Forever Chemical scandal Rocking Simply Orange and explore how these recalls signal a fractured system demanding reform after this short break. Heads up wellness warriors. I don't let just anyone into this mic time. The only sponsors I ever bring on are products that I plan to use, personally use, swear by, and then have legitimately move the needle on my house and my family. No fluff, no fillers, no jump. So if you're serious about leveling up your energy, sleep, recovery, skin, whatever your goal is, do not bounce early. Stay to the very end of this episode. I'm dropping some of my absolute line-by-brands and exactly how they help me feel unstoppable. These aren't random mentions. They're tools, I state my name on. You'll thank me later. Keep it locked. We're going all the way to the finish line together. Before we cover the next topic of this episode, I want to introduce you to the adventure sports lifestyle with what I call a microstory about an adventure that I've had. The adventure sports lifestyle and my deep connection to nature is essential to my good health, so here's the story. On a daily basis, it is sometimes difficult for me to process information quickly. So if someone is talking too fast, I sometimes have to ask them to slow down. But what I've learned is that as a whitewater kayaker, especially if you're in fast-moving water, like at 10,000 feet in the mountains of Colorado, and there are boulders coming at you quickly. There are other boats, especially other rafts, rafts that you want to avoid. So I'm in a small kayak, and there are lots of rafts on the river, and you want to make sure that you don't come up on a raft and go under it and wind up upside down under a raft, having to swim away out of your boat and out from under the raft. Because that's a very dangerous situation. However, a lot of things are happening very quickly when you're whitewater kayaking. The beautiful thing that came out of this experience is that when I'm kayaking, I am in the zone. All that I'm thinking about is reading and running the river, deciding where I'm going to take my path downriver. It requires processing a lot of information very quickly and making good decisions about pedal strokes to make, catching an eddy and getting back out into the current. I did that. I hope this inspires you to challenge your brain processing capabilities through adventure sports like whitewater kayaking. It's definitely a sport you have to enter into slowly, but once you get there, you can level up your cognition, your memory, your ability to retain and process information and make decisions quickly by whitewater kayaking. I hope this inspires you to get outside and adventure alone with friends, family, or the people you love most. Broader outbreaks reveal systemic risks. The McDonald's quarter-pounder E. coli incident in 2024, linked to onions from Taylor Farms, infected 104, hospitalized 34, and killed one. Expert Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group said our food supply is not as safe as it was even five years ago. Testimonials amplify the urgency. Jody Tobin III on the X platform recounted: I just spent the last week in the hospital with E. coli food poisoning. I got out on Valentine's Day. These voices humanize statistics. The CDC estimates that 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths occur each year from food-borne pathogens. PFAS extends the threat beyond bacteria. A global study found 61 unauthorized PFAS in food packaging that migrated into meals. There's an incredible body of scientific evidence linking these chemicals to health harm, says David Andrews of the Environmental Working Group. The FDA's phase out of PFAS and Greece proofing agents is progress, but contamination persists. This reveals a food system under siege. From plastic and peanut butter to E. coli and beef and PFAS and juice, the call is clear. Demand transparency, stricter regulations, and accountability. As Schaefer notes, the U.S. food supply is one of the safest in the world and ranked joint first for the food safety indicator in 2020. Yet with deaths rising, is that enough? As a reminder, here's how you can protect yourselves, wellness warriors. I recommend checking the FDA's recall list at least once a week and thoroughly washing all fresh produce, even items that are pre-washed, pre-cut, and bagged. The alarming rise of food contamination through listeria. Venturing further into the labyrinth of food safety failures to a topic that's personal for my family and me, we uncover yet another layer of food-borne danger. Listeria monocytogenes. This resilient bacterium thrives in cold environments and poses grave risk to vulnerable populations. This pathogen capable of causing listeriosis, a severe infection marked by fever, muscle aches, confusion, and in extreme cases, death, has triggered numerous recalls, including one involving pre-packaged ham sold at Costco. In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, FSIS, issued a public health alert for Kirkland signature ready-to-eat ham products that may be contaminated with listeria. Although reports say no illnesses were reported at the time, the alert highlighted the ongoing vulnerabilities in meat processing and distribution. However, here's why no illnesses were reported at the time. Patients reporting listeria were glass-lit. After eating one bite of the Costco ham, I immediately fell sick. My fiancé Matthew fell sick after three bites. We reported our symptoms to our primary care doctors, presented a printed copy of the recall statement, and a photo of the ham's packaging we had eaten as indisputable confirmation of our exposure. And we were gaslit by both of our doctors. Over two years, I continued having chronic symptoms of listeria, presented my evidence to two specialists, and again I was gaslit. Listeria doesn't happen in the U.S., that's a developing world problem. The worst comment came from a nurse practitioner at Matthew's appointment. He was so debilitated that I had to drive him to the doctor. With our proof of contamination in hand, the practitioner refused to look at it and said, Listeria doesn't happen in the U.S. That's a developing world problem. What are you some kind of conspiracy theorist? It wasn't until we moved and found a country doctor who agreed that I needed treatment for listeria even two years after the exposure. According to the CDC, listeria infection, listeriosis, can cause two main forms: intestinal illness, a non-invasive and milder form, and invasive illness, more severe when the bacteria spread beyond the intestines. The timing of the symptoms, their initial presentation, and potential long-term effects vary by form and individual risk factors. For example, pregnancy, age 65 and older, or someone with a weak immune system is more susceptible to invasive illness. So, intestinal illness like gastroenteritis sometimes usually start within 24 hours after eating contaminated food. For us, it began immediately. The invasive illness, symptoms usually start within two weeks of exposure. Occasionally, there is a delay in symptom onset. That is about true for when we started seeing invasive illness in our bodies. In some cases, symptoms may appear several weeks or months later. For example, reported ranges of 30 to 70 days across sources, with medians around 8 to 11 days or 2 to 3 weeks in CDC-aligned data. Pregnancy-associated cases often have a longer incubation. Median is around 27 days in studies referenced by the CDC-related sources and up to 69 days before symptoms show. If left untreated, invasive lifesteriosis can progress and persist, leading to severe complications rather than solving on its own. Without antibiotics, the infection may not clear, especially in high-risk groups and can result in prolonged illness, hospitalizations, or death. Nearly one in six non-pregnant invasive cases are fatal, cases like mine and Matthew's. The CDC notes that while some healthy people may experience self-limited illnesses, untreated invasive cases and vulnerable individuals often require prompt antibiotic treatment to prevent worsening. For intestinal illness, the symptoms may be mild and short-lived, typically last one to three days. You might see have diarrhea, fever, and other gastrointestinal issues like nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and we felt this immediately. For the invasive illness, more common in high-risk groups like me, a person with multiple autoimmune conditions, the symptoms were fever and flu-like, like muscle aches and fatigue. In pregnant women, symptoms are often mild or flu-like. Some have no symptoms, but can lead to severe fetal or newborn outcomes. In non-pregnant people, especially seniors or immunocompromised folks, headaches, stiffness, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions or seizures indicating meningitis, sepsis, or menogoencephalitis might be observed. If untreated, listeriosis does not typically resolve spontaneously in severe cases and can lead to serious, potentially life-threatening complications. If untreated, invasive listeriosis can progress to sepsis, a blood infection, meningitis, brain or spinal cord inflammation, and encephalitis or other systemic issues. High mortality in vulnerable groups is what you might expect. 20% overall for invasive cases higher in certain forms. Pregnancy-related listeriosis, even with mild or absent maternal symptoms, untreated infection often causes miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening newborn infection like neonatal sepsis or meningitis. Neurological long-term effects if survived severe cases, possibly lasting issues from meningitis or encephalitis, such as neurological damage through this, though the CDC emphasizes prevention and early treatment to avoid these. But that's what we tried to get on our own behalf, and we were gas-lip at every step of the way. The CDC stresses that listeriosis is treatable with antibiotics like ampicillin, especially when caught early, and high-risk people should seek medical care promptly for fever or flu-like symptoms after potential exposure. For the most current details, refer to the CDC's listeria pages found in the list of citations in the show description. The implicated product containing Listeria was produced by Sunnyvale Smoked Meats, the product that we consumed in Menteca, California on September 25th, 2023, and was a four-pound vacuum-packed Kirkland signature Apple Wood Master Carve ham boneless with natural juices, bearing a use or freeze-by date of January 2024, and lot number 264-4, in case you still have this product in your deep freezer. These hams, marked with the establishment number EST 17823 inside the USDAA inspection seal, were shipped to Costco locations in Colorado, California, and Nevada and were available for purchase from September 26 to 29, 2023. The issue surfaced through the company's internal laboratory testing, which detected possible listeria contamination, prompting notification to FSIS. As the FSIS stated, a recall was not requested because it believed that the infected products are no longer in commerce. But that was not the case. This incident fits into a disturbing pattern of listeria outbreaks tied to deli meats and ready-to-eat products. Listeria is particularly insidious because it can grow at refrigerator temperatures, unlike many bacteria, making it a stealthy threat in homes and food service settings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, estimates that listeria sickened 1,600 people annually in the U.S., leading to around 260 deaths. Echoing broader trends, this Costco ham alert preceded larger crises. For instance, the 2024 Boer's Head Delhi meat outbreak, which included various hams, resulted in 10 deaths and 60 hospitalizations across 19 states due to listeria contamination. Experts like Bill Marler, a food safety attorney, emphasized the need for rigorous sanitation. Listeria is a hardy bacterium that can persist in food processing environments if not properly controlled. Consumers were advised to discard or return the ham, with FSIS urging, consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. For those experiencing symptoms like high fever, stiff neck, or nausea after consumption, immediate medical attention is recommended, especially for at-risk groups. However, my family and I couldn't get the help we needed for two years. Our story is why the New Normal Big Life podcast crew continually works with expert guests to help you become a wiser consumer and patient advocate for yourself and those you love. Get the expert advice from Dr. Julie Seymours in season one, episode 25, Surviving Your Hospital Stay, where she gives you the steps to take, the words to say, and the hierarchy to use to escalate your complaints when necessary. I recently had to use Dr. Seymours' advice at a recent visit at a dermatologist. I'll tell you about that in an upcoming episode. This listeria episode at Costco amplifies the series' core message. From plastic shards and peanut butter to E. coli and beef and PFAS and juices, contaminants infiltrate our food chain through lapses in oversight and production. As outbreaks multiply and listeria recalls rise 25% in recent years, calls for enhanced FDA and FSIS enforcement grow louder. Darren Ditweiler warns we're seeing more detections, but that means more failures in prevention. Until systemic reforms take hold, vigilance remains our best defense against these hidden hazards. Stay vigilant, wellness warriors, your health depends on it. Tired of those rushed 15-minute doctor appointments that leave you with more questions than answers, feeling dismissed, and still searching for real solutions, you're not alone in the frustration. Imagine having access to in-depth conversations with doctors, healers, and experts who dive deep into the health and wellness topics you deserve to understand. That's exactly what you'll find in the Rebuilding Resilient Lives community on Mighty Networks. Your free hub for like-minded wellness warriors pursuing radiant health, useful vitality, and greater longevity. Share your game-changing health wins, learn from others, breakthroughs, and unlock expert insights from top guests on the New Normal Big Life podcast. Live strong, explore globally, be ready with me, Antoinette Lee, the wellness warrior. Ditch the superficial noise for genuine bonds and real results. Click the link in the show description for free today and rebuild your resilient lives. 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