Frozen fruits from major retailers recalled due to listeria

Diva Anwari
·3 min read

If you’ve got a package of frozen fruits sitting pretty in your freezer, you’ll want to keep reading. Trader Joe’s, Target, Whole Foods, Walmart and Aldi’s frozen fruits have all been listed as part of a recall due to a possible listeria contamination, self reports.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) site lists different varieties of frozen fruit packages from all of these major retailers. The statement released by Sunrise Growers, which is a subsidiary of SunOpta, announced the voluntary nationwide recall because of the possibility of tainted products. According to the release, a third-party supplier of pineapple is at the heart of the recall.

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Listeria, or Listeria monocytogenes, is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. It can affect everyone from the young to the elderly and especially those with weakened immune systems. So far, the FDA reports that there have been no known related illnesses to this recall.

Because pregnancy is a pseudo-immunocompromised state, the normal defenses against infection and illness, especially food-borne illness, are down. Pregnant women are 10 times more likely to get listeriosis than non-pregnant women. Listeriosis may have severe consequences in pregnancy and can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth or preterm labor.

Short term symptoms of listeriosis can include: high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. If you feel you have experienced these symptoms, reach out to your medical provider.

If you’ve purchased any of these products, the FDA recommends tossing them out or returning the package to the store you bought it from for a full refund. They also provided contact information for the company: email recall@sunrisegrowers.com or call 1.888.490.5591 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Frozen fruits affected in this food recall

  • Walmart’s Great Value label: Great Value Mixed Fruit, Great Value Dark Sweet Cherries, and Great Value Mango Chunks sold between January 19 and June 13, 2023, in stores across 30 states.

  • Whole Foods’s 365 Organic label: 365 Organic Tropical Fruit Medley, 365 Organic Pineapple Chunks, 365 Pineapple Chunks, 365 Organic Whole Strawberries, 365 Organic Slice Strawberries and Bananas, and 365 Organic Blackberries sold between November 1, 2022, to June 21, 2023, in select stores across the US.

  • Trader Joe’s: Trader Joe’s Organic Tropical Fruit Blend sold between March 28 to April 11, 2023, in stores across 31 states and Washington, DC.

  • Target’s Good & Gather label: Good & Gather Organic Cherries and Berries Fruit Blend, Good & Gather Dark Sweet Whole Pitted Cherries, Good & Gather Mango Strawberry Blend, Good & Gather Mixed Fruit Blend, Good & Gather Mango Chunks, Good & Gather Blueberries, and Good & Gather Triple Berry Blend sold between October 14, 2022, to May 22, 2023, in stores nationwide.

  • Aldi’s Season’s Choice label: Season’s Choice Tropical Blend sold between October 11, 2022, to May 22, 2023, in stores across 27 states.

  • Associated Wholesale Grocers’s Best Choice label: Best Choice Pitted Red Tart Cherries Unsweetened sold between April 5, 2023, to May 4, 2023, in stores across Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

The FDA has the full list of affected products. You can check the specific best-by dates and codes of all your packages here.