Five products, three separate Salmonella chains, one Tuesday — and now, for the first time this week, two of them come with lot codes you can actually check right now. This is Food Recall Watch. Today we're tying up a few loose ends: the moringa investigation finally has a named recall, the Kroger crouton sourcing question finally got answered, and a very familiar chocolate brand just got pulled in too. And the California Dairies milk-powder chain just picked up a third finished product. So if this looked like it was calming down, nope. Motor City Pizza, Ghirardelli frappe powder, Mogo moringa capsules, and Kroger croutons through Sugar Foods — let’s get into the whole mess. This one's from Allrecipes:
According to a May 29 announcement shared by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Champion Foods LLC is voluntarily recalling certain batches of Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread ("5 Cheese Bread") because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. This announcement follows an initial California Dairies, Inc. milk powder recall over potential Salmonella contamination.
Champion Foods LLC, May 29 voluntary recall, Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread — sold at Costco, Walmart, Kroger, Target, Jewel, Schnucks, Grocery Outlet, and Giant Landover. The path here runs through a third-party seasoning blend maker using California Dairies milk powder, which is the same upstream source behind the Ghirardelli frappe powder pull and the Kroger crouton pull earlier this week. That makes four finished-product recalls tied to one named ingredient source. And the seasoning maker’s own testing came back negative for Salmonella, so Champion Foods recalled it anyway. I’m not criticizing that call — I’m saying that’s the difference between tracing upstream and waiting around. But I need the thing a shopper can use: lot codes, sell-by dates, because “certain batches sold nationwide at Costco” tells you almost nothing standing in front of the freezer. The lot codes were cut off in this version of the notice — check FDA.gov under the Champion Foods recall entry for the full list. And just to close the loop from May 27: yes, one contaminated ingredient can pull a whole chain of finished products. This week proved it, across frozen pizza, croutons, chocolate powder, and now a cheese bread seasoning blend. Here's Meatingplace:
A California manufacturer has recalled 71,603 pounds of frozen not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) pork and crab soup dumplings, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Sunday. “The problem was discovered by FSIS inspection personnel during a routine allergen verification task,” the agency said. “FSIS personnel identified that the products were formulated with peanut oil, but peanuts were not declared on the finished product label. The establishment determined that a formulation change led to the mislabeling.”
Closing the loop on Synear Foods: FSIS has confirmed 71,603 pounds of frozen pork-and-crab soup dumplings recalled out of Chatsworth, California — undeclared peanut oil, caught by FSIS inspectors during a routine allergen verification. The affected packages are 'Synear Supreme Soup Dumpling Pork and Crab,' 13.23 ounces, best-by dates running from October 15, 2026 through February 23, 2027, with EST. 45942 inside the USDA mark of inspection. And now we know exactly how the peanut oil got in: a formulation change that never made it onto the label. That’s not a printing mistake — somebody changed the ingredient and the label never caught up. California, Washington, New Jersey, and Canadian retailers all got product. If you bought these between October and late February, check the best-by date and that EST. 45942 stamp. Do not eat them — return or discard. The part that gets me is “routine allergen verification task.” FSIS caught this, not the company. A peanut allergy can be fatal, and it took a government inspector walking the floor to find it — the establishment only then determined there’d been a formulation change. That sequence matters. Here's Food Poisoning Bulletin:
The FDA is weighing in on the new Mogo moringa capsules Salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 18 people in seven states. Mogo has recalled their Pure Moringa Oleifera capsules that have lot number/expiration date pairs of 15525AA and expiration date 6/2027, and 00926AA and expiration date 1/2028.
Mogo Pure Moringa Oleifera capsules — voluntary recall, and there are two exact lot code and expiration date pairs to check: 15525AA expiring June 2027, and 00926AA expiring January 2028. Eighteen sick across seven states, sold on Amazon, eBay, and directly on the Mogo website. All week this has been “active investigation, watch this space” — and now we finally have two lot codes you can read off the bottle. That’s the first time anyone could actually answer the question: do I toss it? Yes, if either of those codes is on your label. Worth flagging the numbers carefully here: 18 sick in this Mogo cluster. Earlier this week we cited 119 illnesses and 32 hospitalizations tied to moringa — that’s a separate chain involving Rosabella powder and another tied to Why Not, Live It Up, and TNVitamin. Mogo is its own distinct recall event, not a subtraction from the larger count. So now we’ve got at least three separate moringa Salmonella threads running at once — different brand names, different product forms, different lot codes — and if you’re just grabbing “moringa capsules” off Amazon, you have no obvious reason to know which cluster you’re buying into. This one's from Mesa County:
Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is recalling certain powdered beverage mix products. The products are being recalled due to potential Salmonella contamination. The products are sold online nationwide and may have been distributed in Mesa County. To date, no illnesses have been reported in connection to these products.
Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is recalling fourteen powdered beverage mix SKUs — frappes, hot cocoa, sweet ground powder, vanilla frappe mix — all in bulk foodservice sizes, with the biggest at thirty pounds. Best-if-used-by dates run from early 2027 through January 2028. Sold online nationwide, potential Salmonella contamination, no illnesses reported so far. Full product and date list is on FDA’s site. Ghirardelli. That’s a name people trust, and these are thirty-pound bags going into cafés and coffee bars — the customer ordering a frappe never touches the package, never sees a best-by date, never gets a shot at checking a lot code. “No illnesses reported” is not the same as “no exposure.” And this is the fourth finished-product category we’ve traced back to the California Dairies dry milk powder failure this week — first the ranch seasoning blends, then Kroger croutons twice over, and now Ghirardelli’s chocolate frappe line. At this point, that upstream contamination event is documented across four food categories. It’s not a wave to watch anymore. Three separate recall notices before a shopper could even connect the dots — and that’s if they caught all three. The Ghirardelli buyer at a coffee shop chain has no reason to know the Kroger crouton recall has anything to do with their frappe powder. That’s the system failure. This one's from Top Class Actions:
The Kroger recall specifically targets 5 oz pouches of the croutons with UPC 0 11110 81353 4 and various “Best If Used By” dates ranging from Feb. 17, 2027, to April 7, 2027. The contamination risk stems from milk powder supplied by California Dairies Inc., which was used in the seasoning blend applied to the croutons by Sugar Foods.
Closing the loop on the California Dairies chain: Sugar Foods LLC has recalled Kroger Homestyle Cheese Garlic Croutons — five-ounce pouches, UPC 0-11110-81353-4, best-by dates February 17 through April 7, 2027 — sold at Kroger stores across 17 states including Alabama, Georgia, and Texas. The contamination path is now confirmed in the retail press: California Dairies milk powder, into a seasoning blend, into the finished crouton. Three separate recall notices — SKS Copack, Blackstone seasoning, now Sugar Foods croutons — all tracing back to one milk-powder supplier. A shopper would have to follow three different FDA postings to know one contamination event touched their pantry three times. That’s not bad luck, that’s a communication gap. Worth noting: the seasoning batches tested negative for Salmonella before use. This is a precautionary recall triggered by California Dairies’ own upstream action, not a positive test on finished product. The distinction is real, but the check-your-pantry action is the same — UPC and date range, Kroger stores, 17 states. “Tested negative before use” is cold comfort when the supplier that provided the ingredient is the one sounding the alarm. If your precautionary recall covers 17 states, it’s not really precautionary — it’s a recall. If you’ve spotted a recall we should be tracking, or you’ve got a correction or story idea, send it our way: foodrecallwatch at lantern podcasts dot com. We do read what you send.
We’ve put links to all of today’s recalls and source notices in the show notes, so you can check the details on anything that applies to your kitchen, pantry, or shopping list.
That’s Food Recall Watch for this Tuesday, June 2nd. This is a Lantern Podcast.