Attention, Midwesterners: This Product Recall Is Just For Us

We already heard this week about a recall by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of alkaline water that was linked to a hepatitis outbreak in the western half of the United States. Now, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall on pasta products that were distributed in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin—but don't worry, they haven't actually made anyone sick. At least, not that we know of.

Avanza Pasta, LLC, in Evanston, Illinois, is recalling 2,237 pounds of pasta products containing meat and poultry because these products didn't undergo federal inspection before being sold. They "do not bear an establishment number nor the USDA mark of inspection," meaning that they were shipped to restaurants, stores, and distributors in three Midwest states without being signed off on according to food safety protocols. The list of items that slipped past inspection includes various meat- and chicken-filled tortellini and ravioli products, produced between October 5, 2019, and March 12, 2021. (Even if you haven't purchased anything of the sort lately, you might have some lurking in your freezer from within the recall period.) The full list of recalled products can be found here.

There have been no reports of adverse effects from eating these items, but the FSIS is nevertheless encouraging those who might have them in the freezer to throw them away or return them to the store where they were purchased. Though these pastas look tasty, it's simply not worth it to play Russian roulette with a prepared entree. Buy a fresh batch of Avanza instead.