The latest recall impacting U.S. supermarket shoppers has nothing to do with the product itself, but rather the potentially dangerous packaging in which it was sold.
One brand of bottled water sold by Trader Joe’s in 12 states has been included in a recall announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last week.
As the New York Post reported:
In a Mar. 12 announcement, the grocery chain said that certain lot codes of the product “may have the potential for cracked/damaged bottles.”
ADVERTISEMENTThe affected products have lot codes of lot number 11/28/2024 L or 11/27/2024 L.
“The issue was identified by research related to bottle breakage during production and potentially affects 1% of bottles in the lot codes above,” the chain explained.
“If you have bottles with either lot code, please do not use them. We urge you to dispose of them carefully and go to any Trader Joe’s for a full refund.”
The alarming nature of the potential risk sparked some social media reaction in recent days:
Oh no, this is terrifying…. cracked glass bottles in stores? That’s a serious safety risk! I hope no one gets hurt! 😱
— Yip (@yipfella) March 16, 2025
Of course, this was just one in a series of recalls that have affected the upscale grocery chain:
🚨🇺🇸RECALL ALERT: CANNED TUNA FROM TRADER JOE'S, COSTCO AND MORE MAY CAUSE BOTULISM
Several canned tuna brands, including Trader Joe’s, Costco, and H-E-B, have been recalled due to a defect that could lead to botulism contamination.
The recall affects Genova, Van Camp’s,… pic.twitter.com/s1atiTZdrl
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 11, 2025
🚨ALERT | Trader Joe's Acai Bowl Recall
The frozen berry bowls may contain plastic, the retailer says. Stay safe and #ProtectTheWorld with Citizen. pic.twitter.com/xTCI7cLHmr— Citizen (@CitizenApp) February 20, 2025
And plenty of other retailers have confirmed widespread product recalls of the their own for various reasons, as CNET reported earlier this year:
In 2024, food recalls in the US seemed to soar. Between headline-making outbreaks of listeria and E. coli and problems with undeclared allergens and other possible contaminants, there were 1,908 food and cosmetic recalls during the US Food and Drug Administration’s 2024 fiscal year, which ran from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024.
ADVERTISEMENTThe FDA groups food and cosmetic recalls together, but contributing to the high number of recalls in 2024 were listeria outbreaks at Boar’s Head and BrucePac, which resulted in the recall of more than 15 million pounds of ready-to-eat food.
Here’s some additional coverage of the apparent spike in recall announcements:
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