Undeclared sesame triggered a recall of Oliva to Go baba ghanouj and hummus

About 250 containers of baba ghanouj and hummus made by Oliva LLC of Bethlehem, Connecticut, carry sesame that the label never mentions. The company announced the recall on Oct. 9, 2026, and the FDA posted its notice the same day. Three 14-ounce products are covered: Riad’s Oliva to Go Baba Ghanouj, Spicy Baba Ghanouj and Hummus. No illnesses have been reported to date, and Oliva says it has corrected its labeling since it found the discrepancy.

Three dips, three sets of best-by dates

Oliva LLC sells the dips under the Riad’s Oliva to Go name, and the recall covers every container of the three products within the stated best-by windows. The company’s own statement of the hazard is plain: sesame may be present but does not appear on the ingredient declaration, so a shopper with a sesame allergy has nothing on the label that signals the risk. That gap, not any contamination, is the entire basis for the recall.

The notice posted by the FDA identifies the products by best-by date rather than by lot code, because none is listed. The baba ghanouj and the spicy version carry dates from 10/10/26 through 10/14/26. The hummus carries dates from 10/12/26 through 10/18/26. All three come in clear plastic square containers with white and green labels, with the date stamped on the side of the label.

The notice contains what appear to be typos, listing the spicy product as “Spicy Baby Ghanouj” and giving its date range with a hyphen in place of the slash. The product is the spicy baba ghanouj of the same line. No UPC is given either, so the date stamp on the label side is the only identifier on offer, which means a shopper has to read that stamp and the product name together to know whether a container in the refrigerator belongs to the recall.

Gourmet shops and farm markets in two states

Distribution was limited. The notice says the dips went to gourmet shops and farm markets in the Litchfield County, Connecticut, and Great Barrington, Massachusetts, areas. The recall figure is approximately 250 units, a small enough batch that the whole recall fits on a few store shelves.

The company’s contact number in the notice, 203-266-5558, matches the number Litchfield Magazine’s listing for Oliva on Main, a Mediterranean restaurant at 15 Main St. South in Bethlehem that the page says also sells hummus and baba ghanouj for retail. The phone line is staffed 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday.

The calendar adds a practical wrinkle. As of Oct. 11, the baba ghanouj dates have run from 10/10 and have up to three days left, while the hummus dates start the next day and stretch to 10/18, so a container bought in the past week can still be well inside its printed date.

An inspection found the missing allergen

According to the notice, the recall began after an inspection found that sesame was not declared on the ingredient declaration. The company’s wording is that sesame “may be present” and not listed, and that people with a sesame allergy or severe sensitivity risk a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they eat the products. The notice names no regulator and describes no test result; the discovery is attributed to the inspection alone.

Oliva says buyers can return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund or replacement. The notice does not say which ingredient carried the sesame, and it does not report a laboratory result. The FDA adds its standing disclaimer that it posts company announcements as a public service and does not endorse the product or the company.

Sesame as a labeled major allergen

The omission lands on a rule that is now almost four years old. The FDA’s food allergies page says the FASTER Act, signed April 23, 2021, made sesame the ninth major food allergen recognized in the United States, and that its requirements took effect Jan. 1, 2023. A major allergen must be declared at least once, either in parentheses after the ingredient or in a “contains” statement, so a product that lists neither is out of compliance whatever its recipe. The page adds that products already in interstate commerce before that date did not have to be relabeled, a transition that does not apply to dips made and sold this month.

Connecticut has seen this before this year. On Jan. 6, 2026, the state’s Department of Consumer Protection published a Class II recall notice for five hummus flavors from Carrot Top Kitchens of Bridgeport because they contained undeclared sesame. A review of the department’s 2026 news releases, whose latest entry was dated Sept. 22, carried no separate notice for Oliva, so the FDA posting is the one public record of this recall.

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

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