Great Value and Trader Joe’s Frozen Berry Recall Expands: The Lot Codes to Check in Your Freezer

I keep a bag of frozen berries in the door of my freezer the way other people keep ice — it goes into smoothies, oatmeal, and a pie when I have company coming. So when the FDA posted another expansion of the frozen organic berry recall on October 2, I went and dug mine out before I finished reading. If you buy the Great Value or Trader Joe’s organic berries, it’s worth doing the same.

What was recalled, and what to look for

Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., a Chilean supplier based in San Carlos, widened its recall to cover more lots of two Walmart store-brand bags plus one Trader Joe’s bag, over possible contamination with E. coli O145:H28 — a Shiga toxin-producing strain.

The lot code is the part that matters. Same bag, different code, different answer:

• Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend, 10 oz (UPC 7874211226) — lots 6 031 01 and 6 041 01, best-if-used-by January 31, 2028 and February 10, 2028.
• Great Value Organic Blueberries, 10 oz (UPC 7874211213) — lots 6 019 01, 6 040 01 and 6 163 01, best-if-used-by January 19, 2028, February 9, 2028 and June 12, 2028.
• Trader Joe’s Organic Mixed Berry Blend, 12 oz (UPC 00977654) — lot 6 051 01, best before February 20, 2028.

The Great Value bags went to select Walmart stores in 30 states and Puerto Rico; the Trader Joe’s bag reached stores in 26 states and Washington, D.C. Because those best-by dates run into 2028, this is not a bag that quietly expired and left the house on its own. It could still be sitting in a chest freezer.

What to do if you have one

Don’t eat it. Throw it out or take it back to the store for a refund — Walmart and Trader Joe’s both refund recalled items. The company listed Joshua Weiss at 336-899-5612 and [email protected] for questions, weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. Then wash the bin or shelf the bag sat on; a torn bag leaking berry juice onto a drawer is exactly how this spreads.

The outbreak behind it was already declared over

This is the odd part, and the reason I think people are confused. The CDC’s investigation into E. coli O145 in frozen blueberries counted 17 illnesses across two states, with six hospitalizations and no deaths, and declared the outbreak ended on September 21. The recall has kept growing since — including this October expansion. Those aren’t contradictory: the outbreak is the illnesses, the recall is the product. Investigators are still pulling suspect lots off shelves and out of freezers after the last person got sick.

Freezing doesn’t fix it — and that changes how I use berries

Freezing puts bacteria to sleep. It doesn’t kill them. That’s the detail I wish more people knew, because it explains why frozen fruit shows up in these recalls over and over while frozen vegetables rarely do: we cook the vegetables and we blend the fruit raw.

So for the time being, with any frozen berries that aren’t part of this recall, I’ve gone back to the boring habit I had years ago — if they’re going into something uncooked, like a smoothie or a yogurt bowl, I buy berries I trust and I keep the bag sealed and off the raw-meat shelf. If they’re going into something that gets hot all the way through, like my triple berry pie, the oven does the heavy lifting. And for the mornings when I still want the raw version, my banana-blueberry smoothie works just as well with fresh fruit for a couple of weeks.

One thing I won’t do: rinse a recalled bag and use it anyway. Rinsing frozen berries doesn’t get bacteria out of the crevices, and E. coli O145 is not the kind of gamble you take for a pie.

Symptoms worth a phone call

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli usually shows up three to four days after exposure: stomach cramps, diarrhea that can turn bloody, and sometimes vomiting. Call a doctor for bloody diarrhea, a fever above 102°F, vomiting that stops you keeping liquids down, or signs of dehydration. Kids and older adults are the ones to watch closely.

Sources

• FDA — Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. expands recall to include additional lots of Great Value frozen organic berries and Trader Joe’s Organic Mixed Berry Blend (October 2, 2026)
• CDC — E. coli outbreak linked to frozen blueberries (updated October 5, 2026)
• FDA — initial recall of frozen GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries over potential E. coli O145

— Dorothy Miller