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If you have these popular beans in your house, throw them out now

Published Dec 17th, 2020 11:50AM EST
Image: Brent Hofacker/Adobe

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  • Trader Joe’s is issuing a recall of its edamame due to the potential of contamination with Listeria.
  • Listeria can produce a number of uncomfortable symptoms ranging from fever to nausea and even severe diarrhea.
  • The recall affects multiple lots of the beans, and anyone with the product is urged to not eat them and return them to the store for a full refund.

Going to the grocery store in 2020 has been an exercise in caution. Avoiding other shoppers, donning your mask at all times, and hoping that the shelves are stocked with exactly what you want or need has been a challenge. Nobody would blame you if you’ve fallen into bad eating habits this year, but if you’ve been opting for fresh options you’ve had to deal with dangers specific to that way of eating.

We’ve seen a bunch of recalls this year related to fresh fruits and veggies, and while 2020 is just about over, it looks like Trader Joe’s has one more for us to wrap up the year. This time it’s “Trader Joe’s Lightly Salted Edamame,” which may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which could post a serious risk to those with a compromised immune system or other health problems.


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The official recall bulletin posted by the FDA doesn’t explain exactly how the agency or the company first discovered the potential Listeria contamination, or if the company or FDA has received reports of anyone falling ill from consuming the product. In any case, this is a very serious recall as Listeria can pose a very serious risk to many individuals.

Via the FDA’s recall bulletin:

Tesoros Trading Co. from Las Vegas, NV is recalling certain codes of frozen “Trader Joe’s Lightly Salted Edamame” because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

That’s a long list of adverse health reactions, and coming down with any of those sounds like a way to ruin your week. Some individuals may have even more serious reactions, leading to severe health outcomes.

The company says that the product was only sold in Trader Joe’s retail stores in Arizona, Southern California, Southern Nevada, and Utah. At the moment, all of the potentially hazardous product has been yanked from store shelves, but it’s unclear how many units have already been sold. The product lot codes, stamped on the back of the packaging, that are included in the recall are 22LA102 M, 22LA102 N, and 22LA102 P.

Again, if you have any of this product, do not eat it. Instead, either throw it away or return it to the store where you purchased it and the company will issue you a full refund.