You Should Check Your Freezer Right Now

It's time to clean out your freezer. Multiple companies have recalled frozen foods due to a listeria outbreak in organic spinach. After Amy's Kitchen recalled nearly 74,000 products Monday, the listeria scare spread to other organic frozen food companies. Along with Amy's Kitchen, Rising Moon Organics, Superior Foods, and Twin City Foods all recalled frozen products because of possible listeria contamination. Basically, you should toss out anything containing frozen spinach.

Wegmans Supermarkets also issued a separate recall, because it sells Twin City Foods products under a Wegmans label. So far, no one has been reported as sick from these products, but listeria is not a bacteria to treat lightly — it causes a serious infection that leads to fever, muscle aches, diarrhea, convulsions, confusion, and miscarriages in pregnant women.

According to ABC News, Coastal Green LLC in Oxnard, California supplied the organic spinach in question. Coastal Green said it contacted the Food and Drug Administration when it detected listeria during routine testing and is working with the FDA to eliminate the bacteria. "We're in the middle of an investigation here as to what the root cause was of the listeria," said Paul Fanelli, a spokesperson for Coastal Green. "Once we determine what that is, we'll change our policies and our procedures accordingly."

Luckily, Coastal Green caught the problem early on and reported it to the FDA. Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer, told ABC News:

On the plus side of the recall, it shows that testing of products [for harmful bacteria] works and being transparent with that information, as required by the FDA, will save lives.

Because so many food producers get their ingredients from the same companies, when bacteria is detected, it's not contained to one area or one product. To ABC News, Marler said:

Products like frozen spinach travel all over the country and make it into multiple brands. It does make doing a recall a challenge, and if an outbreak [occurs, it can be] difficult to pinpoint the cause.

Just to be safe, here's a look at exactly which items have been recalled.

Amy's Kitchen

• Vegetable Lasagna (including multi packs and LIS)
• Tofu Vegetable Lasagna
• Garden Vegetable Lasagna
• Gluten Free, Dairy Free Vegetable Lasagna
• Tofu Scramble
• Enchilada Verde Meal
• Spinach Pizza
• Brown Rice & Vegetables Bowl
• Stuffed Pasta Shells Bowl
• Brown Rice & Vegetables Bowl LIS
• Gluten Free Tofu Scramble Breakfast Wrap

Rising Moon Organics

• Garlic & Veggie Ravioli
• Spinach Florentine Ravioli
• Spinach & Cheese Ravioli

Superior Foods

• Simply Balanced Organic Chopped Spinach, 10 oz. steam in bag

Twin City Foods

• Cadia Organic Cut Spinach, 16 oz. frozen packages
• Meijer Organics Chopped Spinach, 16 oz. frozen packages
• Wild Harvest Organic Cut Leaf Spinach, 16 oz. frozen packages
• Wegmans Organic Just Picked Spinach, 12 oz. frozen packages

Images: Amazon; Getty Images