The FDA warns Whole Foods for selling misbranded products as part of the government’s efforts to address undeclared allergens as the leading cause of food recalls in this country. The history of Whole Foods recalls was reviewed, and the FDA states that “These recalls demonstrate that your corporation engaged in a pattern of receiving and offering for sale misbranded food products. For the time period of October 2019 to November 2020, your firm recalled 32 food products due to undeclared allergen(s). We noticed similar patterns of numerous recalls for undeclared allergens in previous years as well.”
Some of the recalled products include Whole Foods Market Minestrone Soup, which was recalled in April 2020 for undeclared milk. The reason given for the recall was that the internal labeling system for the repackaging of foods was not updated to include the current ingredient list.
Another recall mentioned in the warning letter was for Whole Foods Market Raspberry Cheesecake Italian gelato recalled in December 2019 for undeclared egg. The company’s contract manufacturer packaged another product with the incorrect label.
Another recall was for Whole Foods Market Parkerhouse Rolls that were recalled in October 2019 for undeclared milk and eggs. The mislabeling occurred because the employees added a label that did not reflect the ingredients listed on the manufacturer’s label.
The FDA warns Whole Foods warning letter states that the company is responsible for investigating and determining the causes of violations identified by the FDA and for preventing their recurrence of occurrence of more violations. The company must respond to tell the FDA what specific things they are doing to address these issues, including documentation and information to let the government evaluate the corrections.
