City food manufacturer recalls products

Possible presence of listeria at site cited

A Baltimore-based food manufacturer is recalling hundreds of ready-to-eat sandwiches, salads, yogurts, wraps and other products because they may be contaminated with listeria, the Food and Drug Administration announced last week.

Fresh Ideation Food Group LLC, based in Lakeland in South Baltimore, issued the voluntary recall Friday after routine monitoring of its facility found the possible presence of listeria, according to an automated message on the company’s main phone line.

“This voluntary recall was initiated in an abundance of caution and represents the only recall in the company’s history,” Fresh Creative Cuisine customer service wrote in an email to The Baltimore Sun.

No illnesses related to the recalled products had been reported as of Friday, according to the FDA’s announcement.

The recall targets products sold from Jan. 24 to Jan. 30. That list includes more than 400 food products sold under dozens of brand names, such as Quick & Fresh, Bistro to Go and Fresh Creative Cuisine, according to the FDA.

All recalled products have a Fresh Creative Cuisine Label and/or have the company’s name listed at the bottom of the product’s label, according to the FDA. The recalled products also have a fresh-through or sell-through date ranging from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6.

The products were distributed in Washington, D.C., and nine states, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. They were sold in retail locations, vending machines and by transportation providers during travel, according to the FDA.

Those providers include the passenger railroad Amtrak, The New York Times reported.

Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria detected in environmental samples taken at the company, can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, according to the FDA.

“Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women,” the federal agency said in its release.

Possible listeria contamination was the second-most-common reason for a food company to issue a recall in 2021, according to a report by the left-leaning U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

That year, about 19% of food recalls were caused by possible contamination from the disease-causing bacteria. About 44% were caused by allergens not included on the ingredient list.

Fresh Ideation Food Group wants people who purchased any of the recalled products to contact the company at 855-969-3338, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.