The Biggest Fruit Recalls In History

Supposedly, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But that's much less likely to happen if you eat an apple laced with listeria, hardy germs that can spread to food and cause some serious issues. Listeria-contaminated food has led to some of the biggest fruit recalls in history, impacting cantaloupe, nectarines, peaches, and plums. And listeria is just one potential contaminant — fruit recalls have been triggered by pesticides, herbicides, salmonella, hepatitis A, and more.

In many cases, food testing or other safety measures prompt health officials to issue fruit recalls as a precaution. Sadly, not all recalls are just precautionary. Some of the biggest fruit recalls in history stemmed from serious outbreaks of foodborne illnesses that led to hospitalizations and even tragic deaths. From the "Great Cranberry Scare" of 1959 to the cantaloupe-linked salmonella outbreak in 2023, the history of fruit recalls spans decades and impacts a variety of produce, from small berries to large melons.

Cranberry sauce might be Thanksgiving's most divisive dish — should it be sliced from a can or homemade with whole berries? Sweet or tart? A topping for turkey or a side dish on its own? But back in 1959, a bigger question overshadowed all these debates: Are cranberries safe? Just weeks before Thanksgiving that year, health officials discovered a potential problem — cranberries sampled from the Pacific Northwest contained traces of aminotriazole, an herbicide linked to cancer in lab animals. The Food and Drug Administration recommended halting all sales of cranberries grown in Oregon or Washington.

Representatives from Ocean Spray and the herbicide's manufacturer tried to reassure the public by explaining that a human would have to eat thousands of cranberries for years on end to face any risk. Not to mention, most cranberries came from Eastern states, not the Pacific Northwest. But when the secretary of Health, Education and Welfare advised skipping the cranberry sauce that year, panic ensued. Major chains yanked cranberry products from their shelves. Some big cities like Chicago and San Francisco banned sales of cranberry. The government seized cranberries by the barrelful. The day after Thanksgiving, an Associated Press headline announced, "No Cranberries for President." The Eisenhowers had opted for applesauce instead.

Eventually, after further testing and investigation, the government released cranberries that proved to be safe. Congress also later paid growers $8.5 million to cover for lost sales from what became known as "The Great Cranberry Scare of 1959."

In 1985, a traditional Fourth of July food ruined the holiday for thousands of people. As the holiday approached, a few people in Oregon fell ill within 30 minutes of eating watermelon. They were hit with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and other symptoms. On the eve of July 4^th, Oregon officials issued a public advisory and the watermelon distributor linked to the cases voluntarily recalled all its striped watermelons. Then came July 4^th — watermelon consumption day. More people in Oregon got sick, and similar cases cropped up in California and Washington. It looked like the problem went well beyond just striped watermelons from one distributor. Within days, both striped and green watermelons were recalled. Grocery stores were told to destroy 10 million watermelons and customers were advised to throw out any they had at home.

The culprit? California watermelons tainted with aldicarb, a pesticide that wasn't even supposed to be used on melons. Extensive testing began to identify and label safe watermelons, which were sent to stores. But a lot of damage was already done. In addition to the thousands of people who fell ill, 17 people required hospitalization and two women suffered stillbirths linked to the contamination.

Years later, it was still unclear exactly what happened to the watermelons. Investigators ruled out intentional sabotage. Some evidence suggested aldicarb lingered in the soil from previous seasons when it might have been applied to crops that permitted the pesticide at the time.

In 1989, the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile received two ominous phone calls warning that Chilean fruit exported to the U.S. had been poisoned. It was unclear if this was a hoax or a real threat, but the stakes were too high to ignore. Officials inspected thousands of grapes at U.S. ports — and two grapes in Philadelphia tested positive for cyanide.

Nationwide, small stores and major chains pulled grapes and other Chilean fruit from their shelves. For some grocers, the recall extended to include apples, berries, melons, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, and more. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) halted Chilean fruit imports and told dock workers to leave any remaining fruit on the ships. Consumers were advised to toss out fruit they had at home unless they were absolutely sure it wasn't from Chile.

A few days later, the same two grapes from Philadelphia were retested. This time, no cyanide was found. FDA officials didn't seem surprised by this, explaining that the cyanide would have dissipated during the first round of tests. But this only deepened the mystery. How did those grapes get contaminated, if they ever were? Experts pointed out that if the grapes had been injected with cyanide in Chile, they wouldn't have arrived looking quite so pristine. Did something happen at the dock? Was this all a hoax? A convoluted conspiracy? Shoddy lab work? One thing's for sure — millions of dollars were lost and tons of fruit went to waste.

In 1997, a hepatitis A outbreak struck Michigan, Maine, and Wisconsin, infecting 198 people — mostly students and teachers. The culprit? Frozen strawberries from Mexico, served in school lunches. The strawberries, processed by Andrew & Williamson (A&W) in California, were distributed nationwide through the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) lunch program.

The USDA notified states to halt the use of all unused product and instructed school districts to keep the strawberries away from students and staff. The recall spanned multiple states, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, and Tennessee, all of which had received the strawberries for their school lunch programs. In Georgia, agriculture officials seized approximately 35 tons of frozen strawberries. Even though not all of these strawberries were from the batch directly linked to the outbreak, Georgia's Agriculture Commissioner didn't want to risk it. He decided to rid the state of any strawberries processed by A&W around that time.

A&W later admitted to selling 1.7 million pounds of Mexican strawberries to the USDA, disguising them as domestically grown. The company reached a settlement with the government, agreeing to pay $1.3 million.

In 2011, cantaloupes contaminated with listeria caused one of the deadliest foodborne illness outbreaks in U.S. history. Illnesses spread to 28 states, with hundreds of hospitalizations, 33 deaths, and a miscarriage. The multistate outbreak was traced back to Jensen Farms in Colorado. Brothers Eric and Ryan Jensen, who inherited the fourth-generation farm, had changed their packing procedures, substituted equipment, and removed an antimicrobial wash. Unfortunately, these changes set the stage for an outbreak.

After shipping more than 300,000 cases of cantaloupe across the U.S., Jensen Farms recalled its entire harvest. These cantaloupes were available in major grocery store chains, including Aldi, Kroger, Safeway, and Walmart. In addition to whole cantaloupes, the recall extended to pre-packaged fresh-cut fruit products containing cantaloupe.

The Jensen brothers cooperated with investigators, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce, and apologized to relatives of the victims. Widely thought of as the worst food recall of all time, the incident highlighted major concerns in fruit farming, particularly concerning sanitation, processing, and the effectiveness of food safety audits.

Pomegranate seeds imported from Turkey were implicated in a 2013 multistate outbreak of hepatitis A. Hundreds of people became ill, resulting in 71 hospitalizations. Most of those who fell ill had eaten Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend from Costco. The blend contained blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and pomegranate seeds.

Townsend Farms, Inc., which has operated in Oregon for well over 100 years, issued a voluntary recall of the potentially contaminated frozen blends. These products, which had been distributed in a dozen western states, included both the Townsend Farms brand and also the Harris Teeter Organic Antioxidant Blends, sold at Harris Teeter stores.

Scenic Fruit Company, another Oregon-based business, also felt the ripple effects of the tainted seeds. Although no illnesses were connected to the company's product, certain lots of Woodstock Frozen Organic Pomegranate Kernels were recalled as a precaution. These packages of pomegranate kernels had been sent to a dozen United Natural Foods, Inc. distribution centers for dispersal to retail stores across the country.

After internal company testing revealed potential listeria contamination, California-based Wawona Packing Co. issued a voluntary nationwide recall of whole white and yellow peaches, white and yellow nectarines, plums, and pluots. The fruit was sold under the Sweet2Eat and Sweet2Eat Organic brands in various packaging, like bags and clamshells.

In 2014, Wawona had shipped the fruit to a variety of wholesalers and popular retailers — Costco, Food 4 Less, Trader Joe's, Kroger, Ralphs, Sam's Club, Walmart, and Whole Foods Market all posted notices to inform customers about the recall. Some stores, such as Whole Foods, also had to pull salsas, fruit tarts, and other made-in-store products that used the recalled fruit.

At the time of the recall, no illnesses were linked to the fruit. However, later testing suggested a possible connection between the fruit and a death in Massachusetts. Wawona Packing Co. worked closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, retrofitted its equipment, sanitized its facility, and continued testing to confirm the safety of its fruit.

During the last three months of 2014, an outbreak of listeria infections spread to a dozen states, causing 34 hospitalizations, seven deaths, and the loss of an unborn baby. Federal and state health officials investigated to trace the source of the contamination, eventually connecting it to caramel apples made with Bidart Bros. apples. As 2014 came to a close, testing at the Bidart Bros. California packing facility revealed contamination with listeria. In response to these findings, on January 6, 2015, the family-owned grower voluntarily recalled all Granny Smith and Gala apples shipped from its California facility over the past year.

Unfortunately, some of the contaminated apples might have already been used in commercially produced, prepackaged caramel apples. In light of this, Happy Apples, California Snack Foods, and Merb's Candies all initiated voluntary recalls of their caramel apple products. The recalls extended to Kroger brand caramel apples, which were produced by Happy Apples.

Foodborne illnesses are awful no matter where they are, but it's especially concerning when they happen in places meant for healing. That's exactly what happened in 2019 — patients fell ill in four different hospitals, which alerted authorities to a potentially big problem. That big problem turned out to be a salmonella outbreak, which infected 165 people and led to 73 hospitalizations. The outbreak stretched across 14 states, and most of those affected shared something in common — they recently ate pre-cut fruit served in hospitals, schools, hotels, or long-term care facilities.

Health investigators traced the outbreak to products from Tailor Cut Produce, a New Jersey-based company whose fresh-cut produce is distributed through regional food services and produce distributors.

In response, Tailor Cut Produce recalled several items, including its cut honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple, and Fruit Luau (a combination of honeydew, pineapple, cantaloupe, and red grapes). These products had been distributed to New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania — including four Pennsylvania hospitals, where the first signs of the outbreak were spotted.

In 2020, peaches distributed nationwide may have caused an outbreak of salmonella. The outbreak reached at least 17 states, resulting in 28 hospitalizations and over 100 reported illnesses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration believes the actual number of impacted individuals could have been in the thousands. Many cases likely went unreported with people suffering at home without official diagnosis.

Peaches from Prima Wawona, a large grower and producer in California, were the suspected culprit. In response to the outbreak, Prima Wawona issued a recall for both loose and bagged peaches. The bags were sold under a variety of names — Wawona Peaches, Wawona Organic Peaches, Prima Peaches, Organic Marketside Peaches, Kroger Peaches, and Wegmans Peaches all contained peaches from Prima Wawona.

A long list of stores carried recalled peach products, including Aldi, Kroger, Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Foods Co., Target, Walmart, and Wegmans. This was one of the biggest food recalls in Wegmans' history — the store also had to remove many in-store bakery items made with the peaches. Other items were also potentially at risk. Russ Davis Wholesale, for example, had to recall peach salsa and gift baskets that used the recalled fruit.

Peaches, plums, and nectarines sold nationwide during 2022 and 2023 may have been contaminated with listeria. Listeria infections were reported in seven states, leading to 10 hospitalizations and one death. When family-owned HMC Farms in California learned its fruit was potentially contaminated with listeria, the company voluntarily issued a nationwide recall.

The recall included a variety of fruits — white and yellow nectarines, white and yellow peaches, and red and black plums. These were sold as individual pieces and in bagged packages, such as 2-pound bags of nectarines. Adding to the complexity of the recall, the bags were labeled under different brands, such as HMC Farms and Signature Farms. This huge recall involved hundreds of stores all over the country. The fruit had reached local markets, small businesses, and big retailers like Walmart, Aldi, Sprouts, Meijer, and Sam's Club. In fact, this became one of the biggest food recalls in Sam's Club history!

Nineteen people fell ill, with 13 hospitalizations, during a 2022 multistate outbreak of hepatitis A. The CDC, FDA, and state officials investigated and traced the outbreak to fresh organic strawberries from a farm in Baja California, Mexico. Branded as FreshKampo and HEB, the strawberries were distributed nationwide, prompting recalls from major retailers like Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts, Trader Joe's, and Walmart.

Unfortunately, an eerily similar thing happened in 2023, when 10 people fell ill, with four needing hospitalization. This was also a multistate outbreak of hepatitis A — and testing showed the 2023 strain was genetically identical to the one from 2022. This time, the culprit was frozen strawberries. Turns out, some of those contaminated fresh berries from the previous year were processed into frozen products, making their way to store shelves and into freezers across the country.

The 2023 outbreak led to widespread recalls. Health officials warned consumers to check their freezers and throw out certain products with strawberries. Among the many recalls were popular products like Kirkland Signature Frozen Organic Strawberries from Costco, Organic Tropical Fruit Blend from Trader Joe's, Made-With Frozen Strawberries from Meijer, and Great Value Antioxidant Fruit Blend from Walmart.

In 2023, over 400 people fell ill from a salmonella outbreak linked to cantaloupes. The outbreak spread to 44 states, causing 158 hospitalizations and six deaths. When the investigation uncovered contaminated cantaloupes as the potential cause, a massive recall involving multiple companies went into action.

Sofia Produce, which does business as TruFresh, recalled its Malichita and Rudy whole cantaloupes. These had been shipped to 15 states across the country. Pacific Trellis Fruit, LLC voluntarily pulled nearly 5,000 cases of the Malichita cantaloupes from California, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin. And Crown Jewels Produce recalled nearly 2,000 boxes of cantaloupes that had been distributed to both retail and wholesale outlets in California and Ohio.

But this huge recall wasn't limited to whole melons — pre-cut cantaloupes and products containing them were also part of the nationwide recall. Sprouts pulled prepackaged products like its Assorted Fruit Spears. Trader Joe's did likewise with its Fruitful Medley and other convenient fruit packs. Non-branded products sold in Kroger stores, such as Large Fruit Tray with Dip, had to go. Aldi removed prepackaged Cantaloupe Chunks and Pineapple Spears in what became one of the biggest recalls in Aldi's history.