A recall that started with a single shipment of frozen organic blueberries has grown to cover an additional store-brand berry blend sold at one of the country’s biggest retailers. Federal health officials say the products carry a strain of E. coli capable of causing severe illness, and the expanded warning follows weeks of laboratory work tracing the outbreak back to the same overseas grower. Nearly twenty people have already gotten sick, several badly enough to need hospital care, and officials are telling anyone with the affected bags in their freezer to throw them out rather than risk eating them.
The situation traces back to a mid-2026 recall that has since widened more than once as investigators matched new illnesses and lab samples to the same source.
A Different Brand, Same Grower, Different Store
The Great Value expansion is not where this outbreak began. The first recall arrived on July 3, 2026, when Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur pulled a single lot of GreenWise-brand organic blueberries, its store-brand line sold at Publix, after Florida health investigators traced an early cluster of illnesses to the product. That recall covered only Publix stores in eight states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Three weeks later, on July 29, Publix moved on its own to pull every lot of GreenWise Organic Frozen Whole Blueberries and Whole Mixed Berries, not just the single flagged lot, after the FDA conducted a remote inspection of the Chilean processor’s facility and raised concerns about additional lots that had gone into other GreenWise products.
That inspection also led the FDA to add Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur to Import Alert 99-35, a designation that lets the agency detain future shipments of frozen blueberries from the firm at the border without physically examining them, unless the company documents that it has fixed whatever allowed the contamination in the first place. Investigators have since traced illness onset dates as far back as May 11, 2026, and as recent as August 6, with 11 of the 13 people interviewed in the most recent case count, or 85%, reporting they had eaten frozen blueberries before falling ill, a consistency that has helped investigators keep the traceback focused on this single grower rather than a broader source.
The Recall Widens to a Walmart Store Brand
The company at the center of the recall is Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., an Ecuador-based grower and processor that first pulled frozen organic IQF (individually quick frozen) blueberries from the market in July 2026. On September 2, the company expanded that recall to include a specific lot of Great Value Frozen Organic Triple Berry Blend, a 10-ounce store-brand bag sold at Walmart. The blend combines blueberries with other berries, but it is the blueberry component supplied by the Ecuadorian processor that investigators believe carries the contamination.
A Single Lot Code, Sold Across Two Dozen States
The recalled Triple Berry Blend was sold with a printed lot code of 6040 01-6 and a best-by date of February 9, 2028, and reached Walmart shelves in 26 states plus Puerto Rico, according to the company’s notice. That geographic spread is one reason the recall has stretched on for weeks rather than resolving quickly: a single contaminated lot moving through a national retailer’s supply chain can end up in freezers thousands of miles apart before anyone notices a pattern in illness reports. Shoppers who have the product are advised to check the package details against the recall notice, avoid eating the contents, and either discard the bag or return it to the store for a refund.
Seventeen Illnesses Tracked in Florida and Georgia
As of September 3, health investigators had linked 17 illnesses to the outbreak, six of them serious enough to require hospitalization, concentrated in Florida and Georgia. The bacteria involved, E. coli O145:H28, is a Shiga toxin-producing strain, the same broad category responsible for some of the most dangerous foodborne outbreaks in the United States. Infections typically bring on severe stomach cramps and diarrhea, which can turn bloody, along with vomiting. Most healthy adults recover within a week without lasting harm, but the toxin can trigger hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication that damages the kidneys and shows up disproportionately in young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.
Why the FDA Keeps Updating the Same Investigation
The Food and Drug Administration has treated this as a single, evolving investigation rather than a series of unrelated recalls, publishing periodic updates as new retail testing and illness reports come in. That approach explains why the same outbreak has produced multiple recall notices months apart: each new positive sample or newly identified retail product gets folded into the existing case file rather than opened as something separate. Food Safety News reported that the agency’s September update was part of a broader pattern of releasing executive summaries on active outbreak investigations, giving consumers and retailers a running account of what investigators know as the picture develops.
What to Do With Frozen Berries Already in the Freezer
Consumers cannot tell a contaminated bag from a safe one by smell, color, or taste, which is why the recall notice, rather than personal judgment, is the only reliable guide. Anyone with frozen organic blueberries or the Great Value Triple Berry Blend should compare the packaging against the FDA’s outbreak investigation page, which lists the specific brands, sizes, and lot codes affected. People who have eaten the recalled berries and develop severe diarrhea, high fever, or signs of dehydration are advised to contact a healthcare provider rather than wait out the symptoms, since STEC infections can worsen quickly in vulnerable patients. Investigators have not said whether additional products will be added to the recall, but the pattern so far suggests the case remains open and the list of affected lots could still grow.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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