Can you get sick from frozen vegetables?

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Yes, and the reason surprises people: freezing is a pause button, not a kill switch. The FDA notes in its seafood guidance that freezing does not kill all harmful germs, and the same is true for vegetables: bacteria that rode in from the field or the processing plant survive the freezer and wake up when the food thaws. Frozen vegetables have been linked to real listeria outbreaks in past years, and listeria is exactly the wrong germ for the lazy approach, because the CDC says it grows at refrigerator temperatures and especially harms pregnant women, newborns, adults over 65, and people with weakened immune systems. The behavioral fix is simple: treat frozen vegetables as a cook-before-eating food unless the package explicitly says ready-to-eat. Follow the cooking instructions on the bag, and when there are none, steam or saute until hot throughout. The risky habits: frozen veg straight into smoothies and salads, and letting a thawed bag sit in the fridge for days. Canned is not automatically safer than frozen, by the way, just differently processed, and freezer burn is a quality problem, not a safety one. Higher-risk households should treat frozen veg labels with the same care as deli meat rules.

Can you get sick from frozen vegetables?

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