Are Frozen Blueberries Safe to Eat Right Now? What Walmart and Trader Joe's Pulled (2026)
You shook frozen blueberries over your yogurt this morning. You bought the organic bag on purpose, because it was supposed to be the healthy one.
The short answer
A few lots are recalled. They can still be in your freezer.
The recalled bags have best-by dates in 2028. So check yours tonight.
You keep that bag in the freezer door so you can grab it half awake. No shame in that. Nothing on the front looked any different.
What this guide answers
What else in your kitchen came from a company you never met?
The free 3 minute scan shows you what to deal with first, room by room. It is free because I would rather you check your own shelves than take my word. It asks for your first name and cell, and texts your score once. No calls.
Take the free home scanYou can always say no.
What exactly got pulled from Walmart and Trader Joe's?
Quick answer: six lots of Great Value organic berries and one Trader Joe's organic blend. The lot code is printed on the bag.
Go get the bag. Look for one of these three.
- Great Value Organic Blueberries, 10 ounces. Lot 6 019 01, 6 040 01 or 6 163 01, on the front.
- Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend, 10 ounces. Lot 6 031 01, 6 041 01 or 6040 01-6, on the front.
- Trader Joe's Organic Mixed Berry Blend, 12 ounces. Lot 6 051 01, on the back.
If your code is there, do not eat it. The notice says to throw it out or take it back "to Walmart or Trader Joe's for a full refund."
Shop at Publix? It recalled every lot of its GreenWise organic frozen blueberries and mixed berries in July.
The bags carry store names. The recall carries the supplier's name: Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., of San Carlos, Chile.
E. coli O145, the germ named in the recall
This is not a stomach bug you sleep off. The notice says it can cause "severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (which may be bloody), and vomiting."
Most healthy people get better in a week, it says. Some get a kind of kidney failure called HUS.
Symptoms can start a few days after you eat it. Or up to nine days later, the outbreak report says. Ate from a recalled bag and got bad cramps or bloody diarrhea? Get medical care that day.
And the word organic on the front did not stop any of this.
Didn't organic mean they were safe?
Quick answer: no. The USDA says its own organic seal "does not convey a message of food safety."
You paid extra for organic. That is a fair thing to want.
The USDA's own organic rules say the seal covers how the food was grown and handled. Then they say it flat out. "The seal does not convey a message of food safety or more nutritional value."
Nobody printed that on the bag. And so you paid extra, and that line stayed in a government rulebook.
Frozen berries carry one more problem. You do not cook them. A federal import alert now names this supplier. It says produce is often eaten "without further treatment" to kill germs.
So the berry goes straight from the bag to your bowl.
Do I have to throw out every frozen berry I own?
Quick answer: no. Only the listed lots are recalled. The next bag you buy is where you get to choose.
No, you cannot trace every bag back to a field in Chile. So do not try.
Toss the recalled lots, then change where your everyday bag comes from.
This is how the list grew.
| What happened | The concern | Named authority and date | What it does NOT mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| GreenWise organic blueberries recalled | Sold at Publix. Recalled after 12 confirmed illnesses | Supplier recall notice, July 3, 2026 | Not the Walmart or Trader Joe's bags |
| One Great Value Triple Berry lot added | Found by tracing back the first recall | Supplier recall notice, September 2, 2026 | No illnesses tied to that product, the company said |
| Five more Great Value lots and one Trader Joe's lot added | Walmart in 30 states, Trader Joe's in 26 | Supplier recall notice, October 2, 2026 | Only the listed lot codes are recalled |
Three notices, one supplier. The other side has fair points too.
The case against my own story
Quick answer: the outbreak is over, and the CDC counted no deaths.
Two. Only the listed lot codes are recalled. If your code is not listed, your bag is not in this.
So why does it still sit wrong with me?
Because the list kept growing. The newest lots went on it October 2, eleven days after the outbreak was declared over.
The supplier calls that "a precautionary measure following traceback information." None of its three notices says how the germ got in.
The outbreak report, updated October 5, says the new lots came from "an onsite foreign inspection." It says the firm "did not provide all records" investigators asked for.
In July, its frozen blueberries also went on a federal import alert. The alert is for produce that "appears to have been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions." That is its title, not a court ruling.
Where do I get blueberries I can trust?
Quick answer: from a farm near you, picked by a farmer whose name you know.
You want berries on your yogurt every morning. Nothing wrong with wanting that.
The problem is the chain. Your bag came from a supplier in Chile, crossed a border, took a store's name and sat in a freezer case. Nobody in that line ever had to look you in the eye.
So make the chain short. Find one blueberry farm near you, a pick-your-own field or a farm stand.
Get to know the farmer. Call this week. Ask how they grow them and who picks them.
Go in the summer with a friend. Pick a bucket each, and freeze them on a sheet pan at home.
I will not send you hunting for a better label. The recalled bags said organic, and they were.
A farm can get it wrong too. But you can call the farmer and ask.
Shannon's Advice
Straight talk from ShannonI do not call them grocery stores. They are poison centers meant to do you and your family harm. It is not just the brands who are doing the harm, it is the stores themselves. They allow these toxic products on their shelves. People are sick and dying. This is a very serious matter. How can we ever trust them again?
We can't trust them. That is where Switch to America comes in. We are a new supply chain, built on family values, trust and affordability.
You do not have to take my word for it. The proof is in my blog posts, the recalls, the lawsuits and the fines, and in the app I built called The Family Home Toxic Scorecard. Also, inside my Switch Circle private community, we talk about real solutions.
Women come to me exhausted, in pain, stressed out, and on a list of prescriptions they never wanted. I have spent over 20 years helping women get off prescription medications. I help families reclaim their health.
We cannot stop them. I have stopped expecting to. However, we can stop walking into their stores. We are linking arms and together taking our control back. Control of our health and our finances.
Start by clicking the link below and taking the SCAN.
The receipts
- Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., recall expansion, October 2, 2026. Adds five Great Value organic lots sold at Walmart in 30 states and Puerto Rico. Adds one Trader Joe's lot sold in 26 states and DC. Reason: "potential contamination with Escherichia coli O145:H28." Plain translation: the list was still growing in October.
- Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., first recall, July 3, 2026. GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries, lot 60401, sold at Publix in 8 states, after "12 confirmed cases" of illness. On September 2 it added one Great Value Triple Berry lot. Plain translation: one supplier sat behind more than one store brand.
- Outbreak investigation, frozen blueberries, updated October 5, 2026. 17 sick in Florida and Georgia, 6 hospitalized, 0 deaths. "Eleven of 13 (85%) cases interviewed reported eating frozen blueberries." Plain translation: most of the sick people asked said they ate frozen blueberries.
- Import Alert 99-35, federal import list. Lists the supplier from July 27, 2026, for E. coli in frozen blueberries. The alert is for produce that "appears to have been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions." That is the alert's wording, not a court finding. Plain translation: its berries can now be held at the border.
- USDA National Organic Program, labeling rule preamble. "The seal does not convey a message of food safety or more nutritional value." Plain translation: organic tells you how a berry was grown, not that it was checked for germs.
Who do you become?
You become the one who knows whose hands picked your berries.
It is a Saturday morning next July. You and a friend come home from the farm with two buckets.
You rinse a colander of berries at the sink in the morning sun. You eat one off the top.
You are not hunting for a lot code. You know the farmer's name.
That is the whole change. It started with one bag in the freezer door.
You checked one bag. Now check the rest of the house.
That bag came through a chain you never got to see. The free scan looks at the rest of your house in about three minutes. It is free because your own shelves tell you more than I can. It asks for your first name and cell, and texts your score once. A paid report is offered after. Skip it if you like.
Take the free home scanNothing to buy to see your score.
What else do people ask?
Are frozen blueberries safe to eat right now?
Check the lot code first. If it is on the recall list, throw the bag out. Next time, buy from a farm near you.
Can I cook or rinse a recalled bag and still use it?
Do not try. The notice says not to eat the recalled lots at all.
I already ate some. What should I watch for?
Bad stomach cramps, diarrhea that may be bloody, and vomiting. They can start a few days to nine days after. If that is you, get medical care that day.