Frozen Berry Recall Expands to Walmart and Trader Joe's

A frozen berry recall just got a lot bigger. On October 2, 2026, the Food and Drug Administration announced that a Chilean supplier had expanded its recall of frozen organic berries tied to an E. coli outbreak, adding Walmart store-brand bags and a Trader Joe's blend to the list of products that could be contaminated.

The expansion is the third round of the same recall, which started in early summer. According to reporting by Food Safety News, the recalled products were shipped to stores across dozens of states, and the dates printed on the bags stretch into 2028 — which means they could still be sitting untouched in freezers months from now.

The strain behind the recall is E. coli O145:H28, a Shiga toxin-producing type of the bacteria. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, summarized by Men's Fitness, shows the outbreak sickened seventeen confirmed patients in Florida and Georgia between mid-May and early August. Six people were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported.

How the frozen berry recall grew into a national sweep

The story started in early July, when the first recall covered a limited batch of blueberries sold at a regional grocer. When traceback investigators linked those berries to the illnesses, the supplier pulled more lots in September. This latest action, eleven weeks after the first recall, names a third retailer for the first time.

The company behind the recall, Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur, ships its berries from San Carlos, Chile. In its October 2 notice, the firm said traceback information connected the newly recalled products to the same blueberries that triggered the original July warning. The CDC has declared the outbreak itself over, noting that new illnesses have fallen back to the expected background level — but the recalled bags, with best-by dates reaching into 2028, are still in circulation.

That mismatch between an over outbreak and an active recall is the part worth paying attention to. Recalls can keep expanding after investigators finish their work because frozen products have such long shelf lives. A bag bought this past spring might not be opened until winter.

Which bags are affected and where they were sold

The newly recalled items include Walmart's store-brand organic triple berry blend and store-brand organic blueberries, both sold in ten-ounce bags, plus a twelve-ounce mixed berry blend from Trader Joe's. According to the FDA's announcement, the Walmart-brand bags went to stores in thirty states plus Puerto Rico, while the Trader Joe's blend reached stores in twenty-six states and the District of Columbia.

To identify a recalled bag, check the UPC and the lot code printed on the package. The affected products are the store-brand organic triple berry blend with UPC 7874211226 (lots 6 031 01 and 6 041 01), the store-brand organic blueberries with UPC 7874211213 (lots 6 019 01, 6 040 01, and 6 163 01), and the Trader Joe's blend with UPC 00977654 (lot 6 051 01). Best-by dates on these packages range from January into June of 2028.

This one lands especially close for anyone whose morning routine starts with a blender. Frozen berries are the backbone of smoothie culture, and they are one of the few items people buy specifically to keep for months. If you restocked during the summer, it is worth the two minutes it takes to pull the bags out and look at the codes.

What to do if these berries are in your freezer

The guidance is simple: do not eat them. According to the recall notice, consumers should throw the affected bags away or return them to Walmart or Trader Joe's for a full refund. The FDA describes the possible contamination as a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli that can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that may be bloody, and vomiting.

Freezing does not kill the bacteria, which is the detail that surprises most people. Any fruit you bought frozen and used raw — in smoothies, overnight oats, yogurt bowls, or thawed as a topping — would carry the full risk. Cooking the berries to a proper temperature destroys the germs, but the safest move with a matching lot code is to toss the bag.

Anyone who already ate the berries and feels sick should watch for symptoms, which can take days to appear, and contact a doctor. E. coli infections typically require specific lab tests to diagnose because they can look like other stomach illnesses.

It is also worth keeping some perspective. Frozen produce is still one of the safest and most affordable ways to eat fruit year-round — dietitians routinely recommend it, and recalls like this remain rare compared with the millions of bags sold without issue. If recalls worry you, similar food-safety sweeps have been common this fall, as seen in the FDA's recent recall of jalapeno products. The system is doing what it is supposed to do: finding the bad batch and naming it.

The bottom line is a quick freezer check, because this frozen berry recall hides in plain sight. Pull out your frozen berry bags, compare the codes, and discard anything that matches. Then you can get back to your smoothie routine with confidence — and maybe browse more food-safety updates on the cooking and recipes beat while you are at it.