Kroger Peach Salsa Recalled Due to Listeria

Kroger pulled peach salsa from stores because the peaches used to make it might be contaminated with listeria. Not because anyone got sick yet—just because the supplier, Moonlight Companies, realized their California-grown peaches could have listeria and warned everyone downstream.

Two companies that make salsa for Kroger—JFE Franchising and Supreme LLC—issued recalls October 30 and November 3. No illnesses have been reported so far, according to the FDA.

What Got Pulled

Snowfruit Peach Salsa: 16-ounce plastic containers, $5.99, sell-by dates November 3-4. UPC 639123940636. Sold at Kroger in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming.

Supreme Produce Peach Salsa: 14-ounce grab-and-go containers, best-by dates October 12-29. UPC 85006540364. Sold at Kroger in Illinois, Colorado, Georgia, Washington, Indiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oregon, Michigan.

Check your fridge. If the dates and UPC codes match, throw it out or return it for a refund.

The Peach Problem

Moonlight Companies recalled fresh peaches sold September 16 through October 29 at stores nationwide. Yellow peaches, white peaches, the ones branded as "Peppermint Peach"—all potentially contaminated.

Look for PLU stickers 4401 and 4044 on individual peaches. Multi-packs have various UPCs starting with 8 10248 or 8 98429. Kroger-brand yellow peaches in multi-packs have UPCs 11110 and 18174.

There are a lot of numbers to track for fruit that might make you sick.

How This Happens

Produce gets contaminated through fecal matter in soil or water. It could be wastewater used for irrigation. It could be fertilizer. It could be proximity to livestock. Listeria lives in soil and water, so crops can pick it up while growing or during harvesting and processing.

Fresh peaches seem wholesome and healthy. Sometimes they carry bacteria that hospitalizes people.

One Supplier, Nationwide Problem

Moonlight Companies grew peaches in California. Those peaches got shipped to manufacturers who made salsa. That salsa went to Kroger stores across half the country.

One contamination point at the source spreads everywhere before anyone realizes there's an issue. That's modern food distribution—efficient until something goes wrong, then it goes wrong at scale.

The manufacturers didn't know the peaches were contaminated. Kroger didn't know the salsa was contaminated. Customers definitely didn't know. Everyone just moved product down the supply chain assuming it was fine.

Why Listeria Matters

Listeriosis hits older adults, pregnant women, and anyone with a weakened immune system particularly hard. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Sometimes it starts with diarrhea first.

Pregnant women can miscarry, deliver prematurely, or have stillbirths. Newborns can get life-threatening infections. People die from listeria. It's the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the U.S.

The CDC says high-risk people who get flu-like symptoms within two months of eating contaminated food should see a doctor immediately. Two months. You could eat salsa in September and not get sick until November. By then you've forgotten what you ate six weeks ago.

No Illnesses Yet

The "yet" is doing heavy lifting in that statement. No reported illnesses doesn't mean no one got sick—it just means no one connected their illness to peach salsa from Kroger and reported it yet.

Listeria takes time. Someone might have eaten this salsa three weeks ago and won't develop symptoms for another week. Or they'll get sick and assume it's the flu, never reporting it as food-borne illness.

Recalls happen when suppliers catch contamination before widespread outbreaks. Sometimes they catch it in time. Sometimes they don't.

What to Do

Don't eat recalled salsa or peaches. Return them for a refund or toss them. Not complicated advice, though plenty of people already ate this stuff weeks ago without knowing about the recall.

The FDA recommends not consuming affected products. Helpful guidance for anyone who checks recall notices regularly, which is almost nobody.

Most people buy salsa, stick it in the fridge, and eat it over the next few weeks. They're not checking FDA recall lists between chips and salsa. By the time they hear about a recall—if they hear about it—the container is empty and in the trash.

Check your fridge anyway. Look for those specific brands, dates, and UPC codes. If you've got recalled products sitting there, throw them out. Listeria survives refrigeration just fine.

One contaminated peach supplier just triggered recalls across multiple states for both fresh fruit and products made with that fruit. Thus far they’ve caught it before people started dying, which counts as a win in food safety terms.

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