USDA Issues Class I Recall on 1,513 Pounds of Imported Pork Over Listeria
A federal food safety action affecting eight states tests the USDA's rapid-response infrastructure at a moment when agency staffing and enforcement capacity are under congressional scrutiny.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued its highest-level recall classification for 1,513 pounds of ready-to-eat imported pork guanciale on September 7, 2026, citing potential adulteration with Listeria monocytogenes, according to a report confirmed by the USDA FSIS recall database. The affected product was distributed to New York, New Jersey, and six additional states.
Two companies are named in the recall action. Prime Line Distributors, Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Ferrarini USA, Inc., based in Hoboken, New Jersey, both recalled portions of the implicated product. The FSIS designated the action a Class I recall, which the agency defines as a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that consuming the product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that can cause listeriosis, a serious infection primarily affecting older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and individuals with weakened immune systems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, listeriosis causes approximately 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths in the United States annually, making it one of the leading causes of death from foodborne illness in the country.
The recalled product is described as ready-to-eat pork guanciale, a cured Italian meat made from pork cheek or jowl. Ready-to-eat designation means the product is intended for consumption without additional cooking, which increases the public health significance of any pathogen contamination. The FSIS public record identifies the product as imported, though the country of origin is not specified in the available source material. The full FSIS recall notice, accessible through the agency's online database, would identify the country of origin, establishment number, and lot codes of the affected product.
Class I is the most serious of three recall classifications used by FSIS. Class II denotes a remote probability of adverse health consequences. Class III applies to situations where consuming the product will not cause adverse health consequences. The Class I designation here triggers the agency's most aggressive public notification and product removal protocols.
The recall affects distribution in at least eight states. The specific states beyond New York and New Jersey were not enumerated in the source material available to The Congressional Times. The complete distribution list would appear in the official FSIS recall notice published on the agency's website at fsis.usda.gov.
Federal food safety enforcement falls jointly under FSIS for meat, poultry, and egg products, and under the Food and Drug Administration for most other food categories. FSIS operates under the authority of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, both administered through the USDA. Importers of record are required to ensure that foreign establishments meet U.S. Food safety standards as a condition of market access.
Congress appropriates FSIS funding annually through the agriculture subcommittee of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The FSIS budget request for fiscal year 2026, submitted by the Biden administration in early 2025 before the change in administration, proposed approximately 1.1 billion dollars for agency operations, according to the USDA congressional budget justification documents. The current administration's enacted appropriation for FSIS in fiscal year 2026 is not confirmed in the source material available at publication time. The relevant House and Senate appropriations committee reports would contain that figure.
Several facts remain unknown from publicly available records at the time of publication. The country of origin for the recalled guanciale is not identified in the source material. It is also unknown whether any illnesses have been linked to this specific lot of product. The FSIS recall notice and any associated FSIS investigation report, both public documents, would disclose the establishment number, the specific lot codes and use-by dates, the detection method that triggered the recall, and whether any illness complaints preceded the agency action. Consumers who have purchased ready-to-eat pork guanciale from Prime Line Distributors or Ferrarini USA are directed by FSIS to the agency's recall database at fsis.usda.gov for product identification details.