Walmart's frozen pasta was just recalled over listeria. How long after a contaminated meal can listeria take to make someone sick?

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Listeria can take as long as 70 days, a full 10 weeks, to make someone sick, though most symptoms start within two weeks. Unlike most bacteria, it keeps multiplying inside a cold fridge, and freezing only pauses it. That resilience makes ready-to-eat staples, from deli meats to frozen meals, frequent recall targets. While the CDC records only around 1,250 US infections annually, the bug is uniquely deadly, killing roughly 172 people every year.

In the EU in 2024, 70% of people infected ended up in the hospital and 8% died, a higher death rate than any other foodborne infection tracked there.

Most food poisoning hits within days. Listeria can take up to 10 weeks to show up and can be deadly.

Source: CDC; FDA · checked Jan 2025