ShopRite applesauce in nine states is recalled over a mold toxin the FDA found in routine monitoring

Wakefern Food Corp., the cooperative behind ShopRite, is recalling 23-ounce jars of Wholesome Pantry Organic Unsweetened Apple Sauce after testing found patulin, a mold toxin, at levels above the limit for food safety. The recall covers stores in nine states: New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, published the company’s announcement on September 22.

The announcement says the product was “identified through routine monitoring by the FDA.” No illnesses have been reported.

Which jars, and where they were sold

The affected product is a single item. Wakefern’s announcement, posted on FDA’s recalls page, identifies it by UPC 04119005677 and a best-by date of June 16, 2027, on the 23-ounce plastic jar. The store brand was sold through five Wakefern supermarket banners: ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Gourmet Garage and Fairway Market, all operating across the nine-state footprint.

The announcement dates the recall to September 14, and FDA posted it eight days later. Customers are told to check labels and best-by dates at home and return matching jars to the store for a refund or replacement. Wakefern’s consumer line is 1-800-ShopRite (1-800-746-7748), staffed weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The notice does not tell anyone who has already eaten from a jar what to watch for, and it reports no illnesses to date. The symptoms that WHO associates with patulin, described below, are gastrointestinal, and the announcement’s only instruction is to stop eating the product and return it. Checking a pantry shelf is a short task: one UPC, one date, one jar size.

A toxin made by mold on damaged apples

Patulin is a naturally occurring substance produced by molds that grow on damaged or bruised apples. The company’s notice says that because the levels exceed acceptable limits, the product “should not be consumed.” The toxin can develop in the fruit before it is processed into applesauce, and Newsweek’s report on the recall notes that it is not the same thing as visible mold in the jar. FDA has described patulin in its own guidance as “a toxic substance produced by molds that may grow on apples,” a phrase repeated in the agency’s 2000 Federal Register notice on apple juice.

The World Health Organization’s fact sheet on mycotoxins says patulin is often found in rotting apples and apple products, and that “nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances and vomiting have been reported” in people. It adds that patulin “is considered to be genotoxic,” although a carcinogenic potential has not been demonstrated. WHO also holds that exposure to mycotoxins should be kept as low as possible.

The 50 parts per billion line

FDA’s enforcement threshold is set out in Compliance Policy Guide Sec. 510.150: an action level of 50 micrograms per kilogram, or 50 parts per billion, for patulin in apple juice, apple juice concentrates and apple juice products. The guide names patulin as a substance that “may render the article of food injurious to health” but does not lay out the toxicology behind the number; it says the scientific basis sits in a separate supporting document. Codex Alimentarius, the international food standards body, uses a maximum of 50 micrograms per litre for apple juice, according to WHO.

The guide is titled for apple juice and apple juice products, and the recall notice does not say which patulin limit Wakefern measured its applesauce against. Newsweek reported that Wakefern did not disclose the concentration it found, so it is not known how far above 50 parts per billion this lot measured. The same report cites FDA’s caution that an action level does not guarantee illness in everyone exposed above the threshold; it marks the point at which the agency will act against a product. The recall notice says only that the levels “exceed food safety limits.”

What routine monitoring means for a shelf staple

The detail that the FDA found the problem, not the retailer or a consumer complaint, points to the agency’s own sampling program as the detection mechanism. The recall is confined to one UPC and one best-by date, so the remedy reaches a single product at five banners and not the wider Wholesome Pantry line, and the announcement names no other Wholesome Pantry item as affected. Wakefern, a retailer-owned cooperative, is both the recalling company and the supplier of the shelf.

Because patulin arises upstream, in the condition of the apples before they are cooked, the open question the notice does not answer is where the fruit came from. The announcement names no supplier, no orchard and no processing plant, and the only figure attached to the contamination is the threshold that the lot exceeded. What remains unpublished is the measured level, the one number that would show how far the batch was over the line.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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