In the summer of 2025, a wave of foodborne illness swept across multiple states, sickening individuals with listeria bacteria and claiming lives. At the heart of this outbreak were common, ready-to-eat pasta dishes , a convenience many take for granted. While such outbreaks are a public health concern for all, they are a catastrophic threat to a specific, and growing, segment of the population: adults aged 65 and older. For them, a simple meal can carry a risk that is both disproportionate and severe.

This reality is coming into sharper focus as demographic shifts point toward an increasingly older population. This group faces a unique and dangerous convergence of factors: physiological changes that come with age, the rise of modern food delivery systems with complex supply chains, and th

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