Here's What To Know About The Walmart-Sold Bagged Broccoli Recall

A Walmart brand of bagged vegetables has recently been recalled by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in relation to a potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The brand — which is made by Braga Fresh and labeled as Marketside — was recalled on December 31st, 2024 and affected all 20 states the product is sold in. However, if you're worried about whether your broccoli is safe to consume or not, it's important to remember that the recall specifically applies to the 12-ounce Marketside Broccoli Florets that were dated as best by December 10th of last year. This means the product is unlikely to still be awaiting use by consumers who properly stored the fresh broccoli while it was still good to use.

While this makes the recall mostly retroactive, the product may still be held by people who froze the broccoli for future use. Thus, the FDA advises anybody who finds this product in their freezer to promptly throw it away to avoid any potential issues. The recall was initially launched voluntarily by Braga Fresh following random sampling conducted by Texas Health & Human Services, which found that several of these products were confirmed to be contaminated.

The Braga Fresh recall, while not quite as widespread as other recalls in recent memory, is yet another instance of Listeria risks haunting grocery products, something that occurred countless times throughout 2024. While it has mainly impacted meats — such as ready-to-eat meat products made by Yu Shang Food — in recent months, Listeria-related recalls were quite common across a variety of foods ranging from frozen waffles to the most recent recall: fresh broccoli.

As for the broccoli recall, there have luckily been no confirmed instances of illness deriving from this potential Listeria outbreak. If they had, the victims would have come down with a case of Listeriosis, a severe and dangerous illness that occurs as a result of coming into contact with the bacteria. While it's unlikely that a healthy adult would experience a fatal case of the disease even if they did consume the bacteria, children, the elderly, and those with weak immune systems are at a higher risk of death when these contaminations occur.