Food recalls
Food recalls in March 2020
The FDA listed 47 food recalls in its March 2020 Enforcement Reports, 6 fewer than in February 2020 (53) and the same as in March 2019 (47). 14 were Class I, the most serious kind. The most common reason was allergen not on the label (22).
Food recalls
47
Reports through March 25, 2020
Class I, the most serious
14
Could cause serious harm or death
February 2020
53
47 in March 2019
Every food recall in March 2020
Newest first, by the date of the weekly FDA Enforcement Report that first listed it. FDA's own words are in quotes.
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Class I (most serious)
Chicago Indoor Garden, Inc. (Chicago, IL): Sprout Salad 6 oz (4 products)
E. coli. “FDA sample analysis of sprouts was positive for E. coli. FDA traceback and epi associate the firms sprouts with an outbreak of E. coli.”
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Class I (most serious)
Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc (Monterey, CA): HEB Tuscan Herb Chopped Salad Kit
Allergen not on the label. “Private brand customer received 3 complaints of consumers finding the incorrect master pack (kit with dressing and other toppings) in 12.6 oz. Tuscan Herb Chopped Kit. The dressing included was Sweet Thai which contains peanuts, tree nuts and wheat that were not declared on label.”
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Class I (most serious)
Moonstruck Chocolate Company (Portland, OR): Moonstruck Praline Pecan & Ginger Element Bar in Dark Chocolate
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared milk.”
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Class I (most serious)
Pero Family Farms Company (Delray Beach, FL): Pero Family Farms Fresh n' Savory Simple Side Kit Zucchini Spiral Pesto
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared allergens of egg and milk due to incorrect label”
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Class I (most serious)
Vita Food Products, Inc. (Chicago, IL): Vita Wild Herring in Wine Sauce 32oz plastic jar
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared milk”
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Class II
Dreyers Grand Ice Cream, Inc. (Oakland, CA): Outshine Fruit Bars - Variety Pack (contains 24 x 5 oz (3 products)
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Firm has received consumer complaints of pieces of white plastic in frozen fruit bars.”
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Class II
Juanita's Foods Inc. (Wilmington, CA): Juanita's Foods Hot & Spicy Menudo
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “A small amount of product that was on hold due to potential for metal contamination was released into distribution.”
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Class II
New Seasons Market LLC (Portland, OR): Sesame Sticks packaged in clear zip tie 5 oz
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared Wheat, Sesame and Soybean oil.”
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Class I (most serious)
McCormick & Company, Inc. - Flavor Manufacturing Center (Hunt Valley, MD): Sunny Select Au Jus Gravy Mix 1 OZ pouch (24 pouches per case)
Allergen not on the label. “Product being recalled due to undeclared milk.”
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Class I (most serious)
Shearer'S Snacks (Massillon, OH): Shearer's Yellow tortilla chips, round Mini and Restaurant sizes
Allergen not on the label. “Product may contain undeclared milk.”
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Class II
Domino Foods Inc (West Palm Beach, FL): GREAT VALUE Pure Granulated Sugar
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Possible foreign material: metal pieces”
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Class II
GARZA FOOD VENTURES (Austin, TX): Siete Grain Free Burrito Size Tortillas Net Wt 15 oz (423g) 6 count UPC 865336000083 packaged in flexible plastic
Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems. “Sodium level in the product 340 mg per serving, instead of the 15 mg declared on the label.”
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Class II
Harris Teeter Supermarkets, LLC dba Hunter Farms (High Point, NC): PREMIUM SELECTIONS BANANA PUDDING ICE CREAM NATURALLY & ARTIFICIALLY FLAVORED 1.5 QUART (1.42 L) KEEP FROZEN CONTAINS
Allergen not on the label. “The firm was notified that the product contains undeclared soy.”
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Class II
International Food Products Corporation (Hazelwood, MO): Profile Food Ingredients (3 products)
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “The firm received an ingredient that may have been contaminated with metal fragments and further manufactured and distributed products made with that ingredient.”
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Class II
Kaiser Pickles LLC (Cincinnati, OH): Kaiser Mild Banana Pepper Rings 1/4 KK in 1 gallon plastic bottles (4 gallons per case).
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Possible foreign material.”
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Class II
Les Chateaux De France (Inwood, NY): Butterfly Shrimp 16/20
Allergen not on the label. “During a routine inspection, FDA identified the coconut ingredient in the firm's coconut shrimp had undeclared sodium metabisulfite”
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Class II
Lindt & Sprungli (USA), Inc. (Stratham, NH): Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate Bars
Allergen not on the label. “Product may contain undeclared milk allergens in amounts that exceed thresholds established by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.”
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Class II
Maryland Packaging, LTD. (Elkridge, MD): Pure Cane Granulated Sugar, Single 10 lb
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Possible foreign object: metal wire”
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Class II
Meijer (Grand Rapids, MI): Meijer Chicken Cobb Salad 10.75oz
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared wheat allergen, salad may incorrectly contain a packet of croutons.”
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Class II
Snow's Acquisition, LLC (Greenfield, MA): Barts Ice Cream Co
Allergen not on the label. “Product mislabeled as "GF" for gluten-free; however, ingredient statement lists wheat flour as a sub ingredient.”
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Class II
Stonewall Kitchen, LLC (York, ME): Stonewall Kitchen, Ghost Pepper Salsa
Allergen not on the label. “Product is mislabeled as salsa but it contains queso and does not declare two allergens, specifically milk and soy.”
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Class II
Tova Industries Inc (Louisville, KY): Indianhead brand Soup Base Beef Premium (22 products)
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Downstream recall from supplier. Possible metal shavings in ingredient.”
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Class I (most serious)
Blendtopia Products, LLC (Troy, OH): Blendtopia Superfood Smoothie Kit Glow flavor (5 products)
Listeria. “Potential contamination of Listeria monocytogenes.”
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Class I (most serious)
Choice Products LLC. (Eau Claire, WI): Premiere Choice 3lb
Allergen not on the label. “Peanut Butter Cookie Dough may contain undeclared milk.”
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Class I (most serious)
Saratoga Potato Chips LLC (Fort Wayne, IN): Kroger Sweet & Mesquite BBQ potato chips -17 oz
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared milk”
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Class I (most serious)
Whole Foods Market (Austin, TX): Dark Chocolate Dipped Almond Horn Cookie sold by the individual cookie packaged in Self Serve and Plastic clam shell... (4 products)
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared milk”
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Class II
Cj Haide (Ningbo) Biotech Co., Ltd (Ningbo, China): Aminature L-Cysteine HCl Anhydrous 100 mesh 25KG DRUM
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Foreign material, metal”
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Class II
Grain Processing Corporation (Muscatine, IA): Pure Dent B700 Food Corn Starch packaged in 50 lb bags
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “A customer reported the presences of metal slivers ranging in length between 1 mm and 30 mm in corn starch ingredient.”
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Class II
Michele's Granola LLC (Timonium, MD): Michele s Granola, MOM s Salted Maple Pecan Granola
Allergen not on the label. “Michele's Granola LLC. has initiated a recall of MOM s Salted Maple Pecan Granola, because of incorrectly labelled bags. (The incorrect back label with ingredient list does not list pecans as an ingredient.) Lot Number: 8/14/2020 , Best By date: 8/14/2020 .”
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Class II
Mothers' Milk Bank of Louisiana at Ochsner Baptist (New Orleans, LA): Donor human milk in 3 oz
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Foreign object found in a bottle.”
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Class II
Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc. (Golden, CO): Natural Grocers Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (2 products)
Other germs or toxins (botulism, hepatitis A, mold...). “Product tested high for mold.”
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Class III (least serious)
Custom Foods LLC (Santa Fe Springs, CA): Sticky Fingers Bakeries Gluten-Free Scones, Quick & Easy Mix, Meyer Lemon
“Firm received customer inquiry of why wheat is listed in the ingredient list of a product that is "Gluten Free".”
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Class III (least serious)
Driscoll's Inc. (Watsonville, CA): Driscoll's Raspberries- 6 oz
“In House testing found a residue of 0.927 ppm of Zeta-cypermethrin on raspberries, which is above the U.S. MRL of 0.800 ppm”
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Class I (most serious)
Bakkavor Foods USA Inc. (Charlotte, NC): chef's recipe MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP NET WT 16 OZ (1LB) 454g PROUDLY DISTRIBUTED BY
Allergen not on the label. “The product contains undeclared milk.”
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Class I (most serious)
PNW Veg Co LLC (Salem, OR): Foodservice item, Norpac Catalog Number 08099, frozen FLAV-R-PAC Roasted Spicy Potatoes O'brien
Allergen not on the label. “FLAV-R-PAC Roasted Spicy Potatoes Obrien was recalled due to undeclared wheat and soy.”
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Class I (most serious)
Salud Natural Entrepreneur, Inc. (Waukegan, IL): Nopalina Flax Seed Fiber in 1 and 2 lb bags (2 products)
Salmonella. “FDA sampling of senna leaves powder, an ingredient used to manufacture the Nopalina Flax Seed Fiber (powder) and Nopalina Flax Seed Fiber (capsules), tested positive for three types of Salmonella including Salmonella Gaminara, Salmonella Kentucky, and Salmonella Oranienburg.”
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Class II
CJ Foods Inc., A Division of CJ America (La Palma, CA): Annie Chun's Japanese Style Teriyaki Noodle Bowl with Cooked Hokkien Noodles - Sweet & Tangy sauce with Bok choy and...
Allergen not on the label. “Pad Thai Noodle Bowl which contains peanuts was packaged with the sleeve for Teriyaki Noodle Bowl leaving undeclared peanuts on the product label.”
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Class II
Domino Foods Inc (West Palm Beach, FL): Domino Premium Pure Cane Medium Brown Sugar (8 products)
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Possible foreign material.”
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Class II
El Milagro of Texas Inc. (San Marcos, TX): Original El Milagro Corn/Maiz tortillas 30 count Net Wt
Metal, plastic, glass or other objects. “Potential metal inclusion”
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Class II
Great Lakes Cheese Co Inc (Hiram, OH): Coburn Farms Snackers, Sharp Yellow Cheddar Cheese, Cherry Juice Infused Dried Cranberries & Roasted Sea Salted Cashews
Allergen not on the label. “Coburn Farms 4.5oz Snackers is being recalled due to a labeling error leading to undeclared peanut.”
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Class II
Lanvin French Bakery, LLC (Portland, OR): Deep-fried Donut (Banh Tieu) 3.2-ounce package in clear plastic bag, no UPC, no brand (2 products)
Allergen not on the label. “Undeclared wheat and soybean oil.”
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Class II
Losurdo Foods, Inc. (Heuvelton, NY): 1
“The firm is recalling the product as a precautionary measure due to a production employee that handled the product being diagnosed with food poisoning two days after the production run (food poisoning from an outside source).”
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Class II
Lotte Int'l America Corp. (Los Angeles, CA): Lotte Choco Pie Cocao (3 products)
“FDA testing found almond protein in the products, which is not an ingredient in the product.”
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Class II
Sierra Soups (Fresno, CA): Sierra Soups Pasta e Fagioli
Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems. “Firm was notified that their Gluten Free Soup mix labeling is misleading as pasta containing wheat is an ingredient.”
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Class II
Terra Ingredients, LLC (Minneapolis, MN): terra ingredients - Organic Gold Flax and Organic Brown Flax
Lead or other chemicals. “Organic Flax is being recalled due to the detection of the chemical residue Haloxyfop.”
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Class III (least serious)
Paleonola Llc (Pawtucket, RI): Paleonola Grain Free Granola (6 products)
Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems. “Potentially contaminated with an unapproved herbicide, haloxyfop.”
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Class III (least serious)
Pro-Form Manufacturing LLC (Benicia, CA): Nature's Sunshine NutriSmart Polvo Para Preparar Bebida Sabor Vainilla Con In Toque Sabor a Chocolate (7 products)
Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems. “Notified by supplier that flax seed used in products is under recall due to detection of unapproved herbicide.”
Why food was recalled in March 2020
Chartly groups FDA's written reasons by their key words; each recall counts once, under its first matching reason.
| Reason | Recalls |
|---|---|
| Allergen not on the label | 22 |
| Metal, plastic, glass or other objects | 12 |
| Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems | 4 |
| E. coli | 1 |
| Lead or other chemicals | 1 |
| Listeria | 1 |
| Other germs or toxins (botulism, hepatitis A, mold...) | 1 |
| Salmonella | 1 |
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Source and notes
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Enforcement Reports (openFDA food recall data) (Public domain (U.S. government work); source U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA), data as of March 25, 2020.
Each week the FDA lists the recalls it has classified in its Enforcement Report, often weeks after the company announced the recall, so a month with five weekly reports tends to count more. Each recall counts once, however many products it covers, in the month FDA first listed it. Class I means the food could cause serious harm or death, Class II temporary or minor harm, and Class III is unlikely to harm anyone. Meat, poultry and most egg products are recalled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, not the FDA, and aren't included. For what to do with a recalled product, see the FDA's recalls page.