Listeria Contamination Linked To Walmart And Kroger Meals

At least 16 people from 13 states have been hospitalized, and three people have died from possible listeria contamination involving a chicken alfredo meal.

The CDC is warning about FreshRealm Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo meals sold at Walmart and Kroger stores across the U.S. -- Kroger is the parent company to Smith's Marketplace in the state of Utah.

They have been removed from shelves, but if you have them in your freezer you should get rid of them.

Listeria poses serious health risks, especially to pregnant women, newborns, older adults, and the immunocompromised.

What Is Listeria?

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Listeria infection is an illness caused by bacteria that can spread through many foods. Another name for the illness is listeriosis. It can be very serious for pregnant women, people older than 65 and people with weakened immune systems."

Listeria can be found in foods like soft cheeses, deli meats and dairy products that haven't been treated to kill bacteria (through pasteurization).

Easy To Ignore

Listeria can be easy to take lightly because it rarely effects healthy people.

Again, the Mayo Clinic stresses that most healthy Americans have little need to worry, saying, "Healthy people rarely become very ill from listeria infection."

However, the disease is very serious for certain groups of people, including unborn babies, newborns and people with weakened immune systems, and the elderly.

The good news is that treating listeria is fairly basic, with a round of antibiotics usually doing the trick. It's worth noting that treatment should be done as soon as the bacterial infection is detected -- time is of the essence.

Hearty Bug

Listeria is easy to kill once a person is infected, but it is not so easy to eliminate from food. It can survive refrigeration and even freezing.

The Mayo Clinic warns that "if you're at higher risk of serious infections, be mindful of what you eat. Stay away from foods that are more likely to contain listeria bacteria."

Again, the recall was called for FreshRealm Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo meals sold at Walmart and at Smith's Marketplace.

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LOOK: Here Are 30 Foods That Are Poisonous to Dogs

To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet's phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice.

Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.

Gallery Credit: Rachel Cavanaugh