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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated and expanded a food safety alert regarding possible Listeria contamination in several prepared pasta meal products. The extent of the outbreak is now known to have occurred in at least 15 states and has unfortunately resulted in multiple deaths. Heres what you need to know. Whats happened? On Friday, the CDC issued a new alert along with an expanded list of prepared pasta meal products that may be contaminated with Listeria, a potentially deadly bacterium. According to an accompanying CDC tracking page, there have now been 20 cases of Listeria believed to be related to the outbreak. The first reported case happened back in August of 2024. An additional four cases, for a total of five for the year, were reported by that December. But in 2025, the number of cases for the year has so far tripled to 15, bringing the total number of those who have gotten sick from this outbreak to 20. The most recent confirmed sickness from the outbreak occurred on September 11. Of the 20 cases, the CDC says that 19 have resulted in hospitalizations. Unfortunately, four individuals have died due to consuming food linked to this outbreak. What products are included in the outbreak? A number of products have been associated with the Listeria outbreak. These products have been reported by both the CDC and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). September 26: The CDC said the following product has been added: FreshRealm held beef meatball marinara linguine meals” September 25: An FSIS notice said the following products were included: Marketside Linguine With Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce Trader Joes Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettucine Alfredo June 2025: An FSIS notice said other ready-to-eat pasta meals were believed to be possibly contaminated with Listeria. Those included: Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo With Fettuccine Tender Pasta With Creamy Alfredo Sauce, White Meat Chicken and Shaved Parmesan Cheese Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo With Fettuccine Tender Pasta With Creamy Alfredo Sauce, White Meat Chicken, Broccoli and Shaved Parmesan Cheese” Home Chef Heat & Eat Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Pasta, Grilled White Meat Chicken, and Parmesan Cheese All the products listed above have various sell-by dates and other marks listed in the notices that can help determine if the product in possession is one covered under a recall or alert. Where were the products sold? The products listed above were sold at various stores nationwide. Depending on the product, it could have been sold at: Kroger Walmart Trader Joes Some of the products may have expiration dates that have already passed, and may also no longer be on sale, yet they could remain in a persons refrigerator. Where is the outbreak located? This Listeria outbreak has now spread to 15 states: California: 2 cases Florida: 1 case Illinois: 1 case Indiana: 1 case Louisiana: 2 cases Michigan: 2 cases Minnesota: 1 case Missouri: 1 case Nevada: 1 case North Carolina: 1 case Ohio: 1 case South Carolina: 1 case Texas: 3 cases Utah: 1 case Virginia: 1 case However, the CDC stresses that these are only the known cases and likely to not represent the full extent of the outbreak. This outbreak may not have been limited to the states with known illnesses, and the true number of sick people is likely higher than the number reported, the agency noted. What is Listeria and what are its symptoms? Listeria is a bacterium that can cause serious illness in individuals, according to the CDC. The agency says that about 1,250 people are infected with Listeria in America each year. Of those cases, about 172 die. Anyone can contract a Listeria infection, but the infection is particularly harmful for pregnant women, newborns, people with weakened immune systems, and those aged 65 or older. Symptoms of a Listeria infection can differ depending on whether an individual is pregnant or not and whether the illness is invasive (has spread to other body parts beyond the intestines) or not, according to the CDC. In pregnant individuals, invasive symptoms include fever and flu-like symptoms. In other individuals, invasive illness symptoms include the above plus headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and seizures. Intestinal illness can include symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. What should I do if I have the products included in the outbreak? You should not eat the affected food. The FSIS says the products should instead be thrown away or returned to their place of purchase. The CDC also has instructions on how to clean your refrigerator if it contains recalled food. Full details about the outbreak and the recalls can be found on the CDCs notices here and here and the FSISs notices here and here.
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E-Commerce
A few years back, Deanna Conley had just moved to Newport, Rhode Island with a 3-month-old and 3-year-old. She soon joined a focus group for a new type of club forming in her area. This clubpart daycare, part adult coworking space, and a little bit gymwould fulfill Conleys post-moving needs: It offered community in a town where she knew no one, a space to work as a small business owner without an office, and affordable childcare. The cost of a nanny was really prohibitive for us, Conley says. Her older son had been in traditional daycare prior to the familys move, but Conley thought this club might be a bit different. I was really interested in and excited about this new idea of whole family care, she says, versus just childcare. The club eventually became a daycare-gym-coworking hybrid workspace called Haven. It opened in Newport in 2019, and has since opened another location in Rhode Island and one in New Jersey. In January, Haven announced its franchising throughout the U.S. It, and other companies like it, may change how parents juggle work and kids. Per the Economic Policy Institute, childcare for one infant in the U.S. costs more than public college tuition in 38 states. That, plus the reality that many people work remotely, makes the idea of a space that mixes childcare, coworking, and fitness needs appealing to parents. Thats especially true in a world where more remote work means people are parenting more in bubbles than in villages. While gyms such as the YMCA and Minnesota-based fitness chain Life Time provide childcare, typically they cap care at a couple hoursperfect for a workout, not so great for work. Haven offers a village for the price of daycarewith coworking and fitness opportunities thrown in. We can’t fix the high cost of childcare, says Haven founder and CEO Britt Riley, acknowledging that early childhood educators deserve their pay. But we can provide as much more value as we can. She wants to keep you in the workforce, help you feel close to your kids, [and] decrease your mom guilt. Reports found that in 2023, just 15.8% of business with 1,000 or more employees offer on-site childcare, while just 7.6% of medium-sized business do. Other spaces that combine daycare and coworking exist in the U.S. and abroad, but Haven, with several hundred members across its clubs, remains unique as a fully licensed childcare facility (for ages zero to five), meaning parents can leave the building without their children, thats begun franchising. (Other coworking spaces with childcare avoid the time-consuming licensing process because parents remain on-site with their kids.) Very much what young parents need In todays professional landscape, remote work has grown arguably more common than affordable childcare. Haven was born out of a need, says Riley, whod been looking for childcare for her 1-year-old and infant but couldnt find anything she felt comfortable with that wasnt too high cost. I got stuck on this idea that there was something else we could do. Having worked in marketing at companies like Patagonia, Riley used her business acumen to attract investors, raising just under $20 million. She recently tapped a former Patagonia colleague to head Havens franchising efforts. Though Riley says regulations for childcare licensing are extremely stringent to ensure childrens safety, she prioritized giving members the ability to take meetings elsewhere (think coffee shops or clients offices) while their children stay at Haven. Notably, Riley refers to Haven as a club (where membership costs between $650 and $2,500 a month) rather than a daycare/coworking space. The coworking space is just an amenity thats there for the parents, she says. Club offered a way to describe a community, Riley adds, where parents can look out the window mid-workday and see their kids playing outside, or pop into a dark room for a massage after meeting with an on-site personal trainer. Back in Rhode Island, self-employed business owner Conley has also relied on Haven for date nights. Her local Haven has hosted evenings in which members pajama-clad kids can eat, do crafts, and watch a movie while their parents go out for dinner. It felt to me very much what young parents need, Conley says. Rethinking the quick drop-off model Havens clientele includes military families, full-time remote workers, gig workers, self-employed people, and even parents who work at offices. Riley says those clients use the facility for a quick workout before bringing their kids home. Havent isnt the only coworking-slash-daycare in the game. MOMentum in suburban Pennsylvania caters to similar clientele. (Despite its name, dads account for about one-third of those working at MOMentums converted church building facility.) Like Haven, MOMentum grew from a need. Cofounder Mary Beth Thomas says the after school childcare program at her kids school was a mandatory paid five days, when she needed fewer. She was also looking for an alternative to the quick drop-off model in the morning: We want our kids to get used to the fact that their parents are nearby and they’re going to peek in on them, and its not something that causes anxiety, Thomas says. It’s more of a comfort. At MOMentum, which costs between $1,520 and $1,690 per month for full-week attendance, parents can join their kids for a music class, or eat lunch with them. MOMentum has just one location that offers childcare and coworking, and though Thomas has gotten inquiries about franchising, she prefers to keep the business local. We’re more grassroots, she says. We want other people to come up with something that meets the needs of their community, she says, and not something just cloning MOMentum. When Lauren Perrett opened BubbaDesk in November 2022 in Australia, she says there were no similar offerings. Coworking and childcare were seen as completely separate categories, she says. Instead of trying to compete with daycare, Perrett adds, her company pursued a new category that she calls close-proximity care integrated with coworking. BubbaDesks individual subscription membership costs up to $175 AUD ($115 USD) a day, and businesses like Canva and a large Australian bank have purchased memberships for their employees. (Haven offers corporate packages, too.) A spreading model While BubbaDesks model resembles Havens more closely than MOMentums, with eight locations across Australia, Perrett is concerned that franchising could compromise its standards, which are so important when it comes to keeping children safe and cared for. Quality, safety, and culture are nonnegotiable, and the integrated nature of our spaces makes centralized training and oversight essential, she says. To ensure Haven preserves its culture and safety standards, Riley speaks with all serious owner candidates personally. As much as she wants Haven availability to spread, shes looking to keep the ecosystem cohesive, with a 2-by-3-foot poster proclaiming its values at each club. She calls the model, per the poster, a blend of a wise mentor, a compassionate friend, your most supportive and loving family member. Haven started awarding franchises in the second quarter of 2025. Riley wont say how many have been awarded so far, but they go as far west as Illinois, with most in New England and Mid-Atlantic states. Even people in countries known for their progressive childcare policies, like in Scandinavia, have asked about opening Haven locations. For now, Riley envisions parents one day being able to travel with their children and work from Havens around the world. It’s such a beneficial way of looking at childcare as whole family care, says Conley. Rather than parents in this rat race, trying to figure out schedules and hours and payments.
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E-Commerce
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday. When Mary Beth Laughton became president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) earlier this year, she inherited an organization with a rich heritage: REI was founded in 1938 by Lloyd and Mary Anderson, who joined some fellow outdoor enthusiast friends to buy ice axes that were only available in Europe at the time. Since then, REI has retained its status as a cooperative (co-op)a $30 lifetime membership fee unlocks member rewards, discounts, and free standard shippingand now boasts 25 million lifetime members, 195 stores, and 14,000 employees. Laughton came into a company that was losing money and ceding ground to competitors. REI reported a net loss of $156.4 million in 2024; revenue fell 6.2% to $3.53 billion. To reverse the slide and position the brand to become the most trusted retailer for people who love the outdoors, Laughton last week unveiled a multi-year strategic plan that aims to leverage REIs strengths while improving retail and membership experiences. She spoke exclusively with Modern CEO about the plan. Evolve, evaluate, elevate, engage Its not about necessarily reinventing the co-op, she says of the strategy. Its about unleashing these assets that we already have and make us unique. But the reality is that we need to drive profit so that we can reinvest in communities and employees and back into the business. The plan calls for REI to evolve its culture, evaluate its inventory to make sure stores are stocked with a comprehensive and current product assortment, elevate its customer service and experience, and engage members. Were talking about being a more connected, focused, and trailblazing culture, she says, putting customers at the center, doing fewer but more high-impact projects, and moving faster. She adds: If we dont get the culture right, the rest of the strategic pillars arent going to matter. Differentiating the REI experience To combat competition from big-box retailers such as Dicks Sporting Goods, e-commerce giant Amazon, and newer brands with their own stores such as Cotopaxi, Laughton and her team are focused on differentiating the REI shopping experience. They are doing so with products that appeal to casual and expert outdoorspeople alike, while tapping into the knowledge and insights of REIs 9,000 retail employees, known as Green Vests in a nod to the uniform they wear. They have a lot of passion for the outdoors; they can offer a lot of guidance and expertise, she says. Shes also looking for ways to bring the Green Vest onlineweave expert advice throughout the online shopping experience. Those Green Vests also have their own expectations of REI. Employees at 11 stores have voted to unionize, an effort that began in 2020 amid concerns about worker safety during the pandemic. Earlier this year, REI and the unions that represent the workers reached an agreement that paves the way for contract negotiations. Were showing that we want to make progress, and were working collaboratively to get there, Laughton says. New vision, solid roots Laughton is well positioned to help REI get crisp on the fundamentals of retail and online shopping. Before joining the co-op, she ran Nikes direct-to-consumer (DTC) business globally, which included its more than 6,000 stores, e-commerce site, and more (she spent nearly a decade at the footwear and apparel giant earlier in her career). Before Nike, she was president and CEO of Athleta, spent more than eight years at Sephora, and got her career start as a McKinsey & Company consultant. In the same way that Athleta expanded its customer base with workout gear in a range of sizes, as well as styles suitable for wear outside the gym or yoga studio, Laughton sees an opportunity to make sure REI is stocked with items that make people feel comfortable and stylish while hiking or skiing. We have a thousand brands, and we can mix and match and outfit people in a way that they actually want to dress for the outdoors, she says. But dont expect the co-op to stray too far from its roots. We want to be on-trend, but we also want to make sure that were not trendy, she says. Because thats not REI. Fine-tune your search results Modern CEO is proud to publish on Fast Company and Inc. on Monday mornings. If you like what youre reading, please consider customizing your Google searches so that these outlets appear more frequently as top stories when you search relevant topics. You may add Inc. as a source preference by clicking here, and click here to add Fast Company as a preferred source. Read more: gearing up Patagonias founder never wanted to be a billionaire, so he did something about it Cotopaxis CEO wont abandon color in her quest to compete with Patagonia Arcteryx built an exoskeleton. Heres what its like to walk in it
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E-Commerce
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