Consumers who bought soft Mexican-style cheese, prepared salad kits, or meal kits containing crema earlier this year now face a widening recall tied to Listeria monocytogenes contamination traced to a single California dairy manufacturer. Federal regulators expanded the scope of the recall after contaminated ingredients from Rizo-Lopez Foods, Inc. turned up in products made by other companies, including Ready Pac Foods and Fresh Creations Foods. The FDA began its inspection of the Rizo-Lopez Foods facility on Feb. 5, 2024, and environmental sampling confirmed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes, with whole genome sequencing matching the pathogen to the outbreak strain. By late September 2024, the Justice Department had obtained a court injunction barring the company from manufacturing or distributing food products.
How Listeria spread from one dairy plant to multiple grocery aisles
The chain of events that turned a single cheese recall into a multi-product crisis reveals how deeply one supplier’s ingredients can reach into the retail food system. The initial detection came not from the manufacturer but from routine sampling by the Hawaii State Department of Health, which found Listeria monocytogenes in a finished 8-ounce package of aged cotija cheese. That discovery triggered a targeted recall of that single product. But the problem ran far deeper than one batch of cotija.
When FDA investigators arrived at the Rizo-Lopez Foods facility in early February 2024, environmental sampling tested positive for the pathogen in the production environment. Whole genome sequencing then linked those samples to the same strain sickening people across the country, according to the FDA’s outbreak investigation. The company subsequently issued a voluntary recall covering its full range of dairy products, including queso fresco, cotija, crema, and other soft cheeses sold under multiple brand names.
The recall did not stop there. Because Rizo-Lopez Foods supplied dairy ingredients to other food manufacturers, contaminated components had already entered secondary supply chains. Ready Pac Foods recalled four salad kits after determining they contained cheese from the expanded Rizo-Lopez recall. Separately, Fresh Creations Foods and Rizo-Lopez Foods jointly recalled all units of a Chicken Street Taco Meal Kit sold at Sprouts stores because the crema cups inside were manufactured with recalled dairy ingredients. Each downstream recall added new product names, UPC codes, and best-by dates to an already long list of affected items.
FDA evidence and the DOJ injunction against Rizo-Lopez Foods
The federal response escalated well beyond a voluntary recall. The CDC linked the multistate outbreak to queso fresco and cotija cheese produced by Rizo-Lopez Foods, and the FDA formally associated the illnesses with the company’s products. In its enforcement filings, the government cited years of environmental sampling data, including multiple Listeria findings inside the facility, as evidence that the firm failed to adequately control contamination risks.
As the scope of the outbreak became clearer, the FDA published an expanded list of recalled cheeses, cremas, and related items in a detailed PDF that consumers can use to check specific brands and codes. The document runs through numerous private-label and regional labels, underscoring how one manufacturer’s output can appear under many different names in grocery cases across the country. Regulators said any product made in the affected facility during the implicated time frame should be considered potentially contaminated unless proven otherwise.
In parallel, the Department of Justice sought and obtained a permanent injunction in federal court to stop Rizo-Lopez Foods from producing or distributing food until it could demonstrate sustained compliance with food safety laws. The injunction effectively shuttered the company’s operations, reflecting the seriousness with which regulators treated the persistent Listeria findings and the associated illnesses and deaths. The court order requires the firm to implement corrective actions, submit to ongoing oversight, and verify that its environment is free of the outbreak strain before resuming business.
What consumers should know about the recall
For shoppers, the breadth of the recall makes it difficult to rely on brand recognition alone. Some of the affected cheeses were sold in deli cases without full packaging, while others appeared in multi-component items like salad and taco kits. The FDA advises consumers to discard any recalled product and to clean and sanitize refrigerators, shelves, and utensils that may have contacted the cheeses or crema, since Listeria can survive and grow at refrigerator temperatures.
Symptoms of listeriosis can include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and gastrointestinal issues. The illness is especially dangerous for pregnant people, newborns, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems. Anyone in these groups who believes they may have eaten recalled products should contact a healthcare provider if they develop symptoms, even if those symptoms are mild.
Rizo-Lopez Foods has emphasized that it is cooperating with regulators and working to address the contamination issues. Its voluntary recall notice, posted on the FDA’s recall portal, instructs retailers to remove affected items from sale and informs distributors and foodservice customers to stop using and to destroy recalled inventory. The company has also notified downstream manufacturers that used its cheeses or crema as ingredients, prompting the secondary recalls now unfolding in grocery stores.
Food safety experts say the episode illustrates why environmental monitoring, rapid genomic analysis, and transparent communication among regulators, manufacturers, and retailers are critical to containing outbreaks once they are detected. For now, public health officials continue to urge consumers to check recall lists carefully, err on the side of caution with any uncertain products, and report suspected foodborne illnesses to local health departments so that ongoing surveillance can capture the full impact of the contamination.
