What you need to know about a deadly listeria outbreak linked to recalled shakes
An ongoing listeria outbreak credited with 11 deaths is linked to frozen supplemental shakes.
Here’s what you should know:
What shakes have been recalled and where did they go?
The shakes, sold in 4-ounce cartons under the brands Lyons ReadyCare and Sysco Imperial, were made by Prairie Farms Dairy at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, facility.
Monday, the FDA said during a facility inspection three of the environmental swabs collected from the processing area tested positive for a listeria strang that’s “closely related” to the strain in the outbreak.
“I am deeply concerned by the reports of listeria monocytogenes infections linked to nutritional shakes, and my heart goes out to those affected,” Prairie Farms CEO Matt McClelland said in a statement emailed to the Miami Herald. “In response to the FDA and CDC investigation, we have initiated a voluntary recall of the nutritional shakes produced at our Fort Wayne facility.
“We have ceased production of the recalled products, and our internal teams are working tirelessly to review our production processes and food safety protocols. We are fully cooperating with federal, state, and local authorities.”
ReadyCare flavors are vanilla, chocolate and strawberry (Regular, No sugar added and Plus varieties of each) and strawberry banana, no sugar added. Imperial flavors are the same, but came only in regular and Plus. The best-by dates were from 02/21/2025 through 02/21/2026.
If you or your employer has the recalled shakes, return them to the seller for a refund or, at least, throw them deep into the garbage. Direct questions to Lyons Magnus via the company website or by emailing frozenshakerecall@lyonsmagnus.com.
Lyons Magnus states in its recall notice that “the recalled products were distributed primarily to long-term care facilities and were not available for retail sale,” which falls in both the Good News and Bad News columns.
Good News: They weren’t available for sale to the general public.
Bad News: People in long-term care facilities are among the most likely to be most damaged by listeria.
What is listeria?
Listeria infects about 1,600 people in the United States each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killing about 260 of those people. People ages 65 or older, children 5 years old and younger, pregnant women and people with damaged immune systems are most likely to get the worst from listeria. It can cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women.
Most healthy people suffer headaches, fever, muscle stiffness, possibly seizures, confusion and loss of balance.
What about the outbreak?
There’s no update on this outbreak on the CDC website, which usually provides the most detailed breakdown (people sickened, hospitalizations, ill people by state, investigation details) of outbreaks.
The FDA update says the CDC places the start of the outbreak in 2018 with 20 known illnesses and counting in 2024 and 2025. As of Friday, the illness count stands at 38 people, 37 of whom were hospitalized and 11 of whom died.
Those 38 people came from Florida, California, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia.
“Of the 38 people for whom information is available, 34 reported living in long-term care facilities or were hospitalized prior to becoming sick,” the FDA said. “Records reviewed from facilities indicated nutritional shakes were available to residents.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 9:05 AM with the headline "What you need to know about a deadly listeria outbreak linked to recalled shakes."
