Yu Shang Food, Inc.
Outcome
FSIS triggered a Class I recall of 72,240 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products after Listeria monocytogenes contamination caused a two-year multistate outbreak resulting in 24 illnesses, 22 hospitalizations, and 2 infant deaths.
Details
Yu Shang Food, Inc. — Listeria Outbreak, 2 Infant Deaths (2024)
Outcome: FSIS issued a Class I recall of 72,240 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products in November 2024 after Listeria monocytogenes caused a two-year multistate outbreak, killing two infants and hospitalizing 22 others.
Yu Shang Food, Inc., a Spartanburg, South Carolina FSIS-inspected establishment, produces ready-to-eat Chinese-style pork, chicken, duck, and beef products including pork hock, chicken feet, pork feet, duck neck, beef shank, and pork tongue. On October 21, 2024, FSIS routine testing confirmed Listeria monocytogenes in a finished product sample. Subsequent environmental testing confirmed the pathogen in multiple plant locations. The recall was initially announced November 9, 2024, and expanded on November 21, 2024, to cover approximately 72,240 pounds of all RTE products produced before October 28, 2024.
CDC traceback linked the Listeria strain to a two-year cluster of illnesses dating back to approximately 2022. Of 24 confirmed cases across nine states (California, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee), 22 people were hospitalized and 2 infants died. Seven of the 24 illnesses were pregnancy-associated. In California, a mother and her twin infants were infected; both infants died. In Tennessee, a mother and infant were infected; the infant died.
Products were distributed to retail locations nationwide under the Yu Shang brand and available for online purchase. FSIS classified the recall as Class I (high health risk) given the confirmed illnesses and deaths. The long incubation period between initial contamination and regulatory detection underscores the challenge of environmental pathogen persistence in RTE meat facilities.
Primary Source: Yu Shang Food Inc. Recalls Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry Products | FSIS
How Crucible Prevents This
The two-year outbreak timeline (2022–2024) indicates that the contamination source persisted across multiple production runs without detection or corrective action. Crucible's recurring environmental monitoring review protocol — enforced via session-gate checkpoints — would require documented sign-off on open pathogen findings after each production period. The pregnancy-associated cluster (7 of 24 cases) demonstrates the severity of undetected RTE meat contamination.
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