The Biggest Recalls In Kellogg's History

If you feel like the number of food recalls has surged in recent years, you're not imagining things. Recalls surged by a whopping 31% in 2023, with over 300 food products removed from shelves. Alarming though those numbers may sound, this isn't exactly a new phenomenon. For decades, food brands have been forced to pull products from circulation due to everything from contamination to undeclared ingredients, affecting almost every big player in the industry — Kellogg's included.

Considering its sheer size, it should come as no surprise that Kellogg's has faced its fair share of recalls. What started as a cereal company in 1906 has expanded into a behemoth of a snack provider, with Kellogg's the name behind everything from breakfast staples such as Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops to go-to treats such as Pringles, Pop-Tarts, and Cheez-Its. Back in October 2023, the company technically split into two: WK Kellogg Co, which overlooks North American cereals, and Kellanova, which covers international cereals and Kellogg's snacks. Both, however, still retail under the Kellogg's name. That means when a recall occurs, it's the Kellogg's brand that's stamped all over the news.

And believe us when we say that there's been a lot of news. While some Kellogg's recalls are relatively minor, others involve trying to track down hundreds of thousands of products in order to prevent complaints, sickness, or injury. These are some of the biggest to shake the company over the years.

Back in 1876, brothers John Harvey Kellogg and Will Keith Kellogg started experimenting with foods that were bland enough to adhere to the dietary rules of the Seventh-day Adventist Church but also supported the digestive health of John Harvey Kellogg's patients. The result was Corn Flakes, the cereal that later served as the launchpad for Kellogg's and inspired countless copycat cereals worldwide. Over 100 years later (with sugar now added to the recipe, unlike in the 1800s), few would dub Kellogg's Corn Flakes a health food — especially its chocolate variety. This was pulled off grocery store shelves in the U.K. in March 2024, with Kellogg's warning that the cereal posed a choking hazard.

After a handful of complaints, the brand realized that certain boxes contained hard lumps that didn't dissolve or soften in milk, which could also potentially damage teeth. "When we spotted that hard lumps of cereal were forming in a very small amount of our new Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chocolate Flavor cereal, we took the decision to recall all product," a Kellogg's spokesperson said in a press release. "It's important to say that the risk of injury from these hard lumps of chocolate cereal is minimal but we're not willing to compromise on quality or safety." All consumers owning 450-gram boxes with use-by dates between December 6, 2024 and April 28, 2024, were advised to throw them away ASAP and contact Kellogg's for a refund.

While Dig 'Em Frog has never made sense to us as a mascot (seriously, what business does an amphibian have selling us honey-flavored treats?), Kellogg's Honey Smacks are one of the tastiest – and sugariest – cereal offerings under the Kellogg's banner. Honey Smacks fans were left wanting in June 2018 when Kellogg's suddenly pulled all boxes of the puffed wheat cereal amid a Salmonella outbreak.

As per the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a food poisoning outbreak that impacted at least 73 people across 31 states and hospitalized two dozen was tied back to the breakfast cereal. While Salmonella can be mild for some people, sometimes even symptomless, it can often trigger serious sickness or diarrhea, especially in the old, young, or those with compromised immune systems. It can even be fatal, although fortunately, no deaths were recorded in this instance.

The FDA warned customers to throw away all boxes of Honey Smacks produced from 2017 onwards. As a result of the recall, Honey Smacks were noticeably absent from the cereal aisle for several months, only returning in October 2018. The manufacturing company behind the cereal, Kerry Inc., was accused of producing the cereal in unsanitary conditions in its Illinois premises. It later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of distributing adulterated cereal and agreed to pay a hefty fine of $19.228 million — the largest criminal penalty ever enforced in a food safety case.

Kellogg's took a massive hit in June 2016 when it was forced to recall over 20 different sweet treats. This included varieties of cookies sold under brand names such as Keebler, Famous Amos, Murray, and Mother's — all of which Kellogg's decided to sell to Ferrero Group for $1.3 billion in 2019 to focus its efforts on savory snacks and cereal.

The recall came as a consequence of another recall initiated by one of Kellogg's suppliers, Grain Craft, which realized that its wheat flour potentially contained a small amount of peanut residue due to "agricultural cross-contact, which is the result of customary methods of growing, harvesting and shipping of wheat and other agricultural products" (via CNN). Kellogg's wasn't the only brand affected, with the same recall causing Frito-Lay and Hostess Brands to also pull products made with Grain Craft flour.

"While consumers with severe peanut allergies should avoid the recalled products, the FDA has stated that the amount of peanut exposure from the flour is low and not expected to cause adverse health effects in the vast majority of peanut allergic consumers," said a Kellogg's spokesperson. However, customers were still asked to throw away affected products and request a refund, as even the slightest risk of peanut traces reaching someone with a severe nut allergy is too high to ignore. Fortunately, Kellogg's didn't receive any complaints from those who'd already purchased one of the affected products, but it's always better safe than sorry.

Few words spark panic in the food industry quite like "listeria." Like Salmonella, listeria infections are usually pretty mild and go away on their own in a matter of days. However, they also have the potential to be serious — even fatal — to unborn or newborn babies, pregnant women, or those with weakened immune systems, and can require antibiotics to bring under control.

That's why Kellogg's was quick to spring into action in 2016. Routine tests identified listeria monocytogenes bacteria in certain batches of Eggo Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat Waffles. While the company received no reports of illness, it still recalled approximately 10,000 cases of waffles in 25 states out of an abundance of caution. Only boxes of the Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat variety with use-by dates of November 21 or November 22, 2017, were affected.

As per a statement issued by Kellogg's, the company also rushed to resolve any issues in its sanitation process that could lead to similar issues in the future. "This includes initiating a recall, halting production on the line in question, conducting a deep sanitary clean of the area and reviewing our cleaning and sanitation protocols with the relevant plant employees," it explained to ABC News. The company's response was later praised by the Washington Post as a sign of progress in preventing food-related illness, particularly in a year ravaged by several fatal listeria outbreaks from the likes of frozen fruits and vegetables, packaged salads, and raw milk.

A blend of rice and wheat flakes and crunchy, freeze-dried strawberries, Special K Red Berries is considered one of Kellogg's healthier breakfast offerings (although whether or not the cereal is actually "healthy" is up for debate). In February 2013, Kellogg's pulled a limited number of this maybe-healthy, maybe-not cereal from shelves over fears that it contained something much worse than refined grains, added sugar, or excessive sodium: glass fragments.

As per company spokesperson Kris Charles, all 11.2-ounce, 22.4-ounce, and 37-ounce boxes of Special K Red Berries with certain UPCs and use-by dates were potentially affected. This tallied up to a total of 36,000 packages nationwide. "The company took this precautionary action due to the possible presence of glass fragments from a single batch of one of the ingredients," Charles said, also adding that Kellogg's "took the step out of an abundance of caution" (via Reuters).

Luckily for Kellogg's, there were once again no reports of any injuries. While the company never confirmed how glass fragments could have possibly found their way into one of the cereal's ingredients, it did reassure customers that it would review its processes and make all the necessary changes to ensure nothing like this happened in the future (via the Los Angeles Times).

It didn't matter if you were Team Frosted or Unfrosted in October 2012 because Kellogg's recalled both varieties of Mini Wheats regardless. Once again, the cereal was recalled over fears of contamination; this time, Frosted Mini-Wheats Bite Size Original and Mini-Wheats Unfrosted Bite Size were withdrawn from grocery store shelves due to the possibility that they contained small fragments of metal mesh.

The recall affected 2.8 million boxes of cereal and reportedly cost Kellogg's somewhere between $20 million to $30 million that quarter. As is standard procedure, Kellogg's advertised the recall on its public platforms and Facebook, but some customers reportedly only found out days later, much to their irritation (via CBS News). The brand stressed that the odds of finding or eating any pieces of metal mesh were extremely low, telling The Wall Street Journal, "According to Dr. David Acheson, an internal medicine physician and former Chief Medical Officer at the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) with whom we consulted, the likelihood of these fragments making their way into the food is low; furthermore, the chances that any affected food will cause injury is low."

Unsurprisingly, customers were still pretty put off by the idea of chowing down on metal first thing in the morning. It also didn't help Kellogg's case that some people, such as YouTuber user mdillard13, shared videos running a rare earth magnet over the cereal, picking up multiple grains in the process.

One of the biggest Kellogg's recalls to date occurred in June 2010. After multiple complaints from 20 customers about an unusual smell emanating from their boxes of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops, and Honey Smacks, the company decided to recall a whopping 28 million boxes and offered a refund to anyone who'd purchased the cereal.

As it turns out, the reason behind this smell had nothing to do with the cereal itself. After an investigation, Kellogg's revealed that a hydrocarbon called methylnaphthalene found in the paraffin wax used in each box's plastic liners was responsible for the odor (which was so strong that five consumers reported nausea and vomiting). While it may not have had the best scent, Kellogg's emphasized that "the elevated levels of hydrocarbons are not present at harmful levels" (via Food Safety News) and that it was working with its supplier to make sure this never happened again. It also added that the same chemical is often used as a protective coating for certain fruits, vegetables, and cheeses.

A month later, U.S. lawmakers asked Kellogg's to hand over its documents on the issue amid reports that the brand had destroyed all of the affected liners before initiating its recall. As per the Washington Post, it proved a huge gap in the FDA's knowledge about the chemicals increasingly cropping up in everyday items — which also means a lack of information about the potential health risks.

Frosted Blueberry is one of the original (and the best) Pop-Tart varieties, outliving the many novelty flavors introduced over the years with its winning combo of a blueberry-flavored, jam-like filling and a lightly sprinkled frosted topping. While they may taste like blueberry, these Pop-Tarts are, unsurprisingly, light on actual fruit. Dried blueberries fall low down on the ingredients list, buried in the "contains less than 2%" section, with each tasty toaster pastry actually containing more high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and salt.

One thing you won't find mentioned anywhere in that ingredients list is milk — which is exactly why Kellogg's was forced to recall its Frosted Blueberry Pop-Tarts in December 2006. Roughly 1,000 cartons of the Pop-Tarts were distributed in 22 states before Kellogg's realized that the toaster pastries in each box may contain undisclosed milk, posing a potential issue to those with lactose intolerance or dairy allergies. The potential mix-up was identified after Kellogg's discovered that some of its Hot Fudge Sundae Pop-Tarts (which do contain milk) had accidentally been put in cartons labeled as the decidedly milk-free Pop-Tarts Frosted Blueberry. While no allergic reactions were reported, the company still decided to recall all affected products.

While you can find Kellogg's cereals in 180 countries dotted around the world, they typically bear significant differences from those found in the U.S. For a start, multiple ingredients used Stateside in Kellogg's cereals – such as certain food dyes, preservatives, and artificial flavorings — are banned in select countries for health reasons (we challenge you to try and find a blue Froot Loop beyond the U.S. for that very reason). Several Kellogg's cereals have also ditched their original names and go by alter-egos in other regions. Cocoa Krispies, for example, are known as Coco Pops in the likes of the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Australia, while the latter has rather creatively renamed Rice Krispies "Rice Bubbles."

Back in July 2004, Kellogg's was forced to recall both of these cereals in Australia and New Zealand after it made an alarming discovery: multiple boxes contained thin pieces of stainless steel wire. While Kellogg's didn't explain how exactly this wire got mixed up with puffed rice, it did claim that it was reviewing its manufacturing processes in the wake of the incident. It also issued an apology to all of those affected. "Kellogg apologizes to all our consumers and thanks those who alerted the company to the incident," Kellogg's said in a statement (via ABC News). "We ask anyone with family and friends who may have purchased any of these products to contact them in case they may not be aware of this recall."

Delicious though they may be, you won't find any "brown sugar" in a box of Pop-Tarts Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon. Instead, you'll find toaster pastries stuffed with a sweet, cinnamon-flavored filling and topped with a crispy layer of brown frosting — which, as per the ingredients list, has more to do with the use of caramel color than actual brown sugar.

Just like the Pop-Tarts Frosted Blueberry fiasco, the 2002 recall of Pop-Tarts Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon was heavily linked to this ingredients list. In December of that year, Kellogg's issued an urgent announcement to anyone who may have recently purchased its Pop-Tarts Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon in the U.S. or the Caribbean, warning that the toaster pastries could possibly contain eggs, despite these not being mentioned in the box's nutritional details.

The issue reportedly occurred when an internal review discovered that products containing eggs had accidentally been put in packaging that didn't declare egg as an ingredient. A massive 730,000 boxes were recalled in total, with all products marked with a use-by date between September 23 and November 27, 2003, whisked off shelves. Again, the upside here was that nobody actually reported an allergic reaction directly linked to the Pop-Tarts, but it was still a concerningly close call.