Trader Joe's cotija is now a live FDA recall, the frozen food glass problem just grew to millions of pounds, and there's a brand-new pet food pull on the board. This is Food Recall Watch for Tuesday. Three stories we've been following finally got hard details today — starting with Trader Joe's, because there are two separate problems under that name now. Two problems, one store. Listeria in the cotija, glass in the frozen food. I've been asking for the lot codes since last week — today we actually get some answers. We've also got baby food with a company name attached for the first time, and a freeze-dried chicken recall in a totally different regulatory lane. Stay with us. So, the cotija: the FDA notice is official now, and it covers every Trader Joe's product made with that cheese because of possible Listeria monocytogenes. The supplier-chain question we were chewing on last week is closed — this is a confirmed recall. Right — every product made with that cheese. That's what I've been saying all week, and now the FDA headline says it too. So if you've got anything cotija from that shelf, return it. Full stop. Then on the frozen side — NBC New York has the fried rice glass recall expanding to millions of pounds. If that tonnage holds in the USDA notice, that's your scale right there. Millions of pounds. So how many households cooked and ate this before the expansion even triggered? Back in March it was a lot-code thing. Now it's a freight-scale problem. On to the baby food. USA TODAY confirms it was sold throughout the US, and names the maker — IF Copack, Initiative Foods — in the Tippy Toes patulin recall. Finally a name. I've been asking for it since the sixth. IF Copack. Now — give me the lot and the aisle, because a parent can't act on a company name alone. And here's where I want to be careful. USA TODAY leans on words like 'toxic' and 'nerve damage.' The agency language is 'elevated levels of patulin.' Both are true — but I'm going with the agency wording first. Sure, patulin, elevated levels — fine. But if it's in a pouch a baby's eating, the parent doesn't need the chemistry, they need the lot code that's still not loud enough on that notice. Fair. Geographic scope is settled at least — it's nationwide, which answers what we were unsure about Sunday. New one for the rundown, and it's in a different lane: GO Raw LLC is expanding the recall on Steve's Real Food Freeze-Dried Chicken Recipe — specific lot, low thiamine, Vitamin B1. Pet food, not a human-food recall like the others this week. And here's the kicker — it's an expansion of a February 17th recall. So this lot's been sitting in cabinets for months. What did June catch that February missed? The original pull was in February. Today's the expansion — same product line, more lots. That tub lives in a pantry for half a year. If the lot code isn't readable on it, the months-long shelf life is the whole danger. Make the number legible. And look — the cotija mess goes right back to the supplier-chain failure the FDA put in writing weeks ago. Warning letters, brand families, slow pulls. Without consequences, you get this. Here's FDA:
Trader Joe’s of Monrovia, CA is recalling certain products containing cotija cheese, as the cheese used to make these products has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
So Trader Joe's of Monrovia is recalling certain products made with cotija cheese because that cheese may carry Listeria monocytogenes. We followed this from the supplier ID to the FDA notice, and today the recall is live and official. Called it. Every product made with that cheese was in play, and now the FDA's headline is built around exactly that — cotija-containing products, plural. Right. Don't treat this like one SKU on the shelf. If something in that case used that cheese, it's part of the concern. Check the label for cotija before you assume you're clear. And here's the part that sticks with me — this is the same supplier-chain failure we've been watching all week. Warning letters, brand families hiding the source, slow pulls. When there are no consequences, this keeps happening. Houston Consumer writes:
Cottonwood Heights, Utah (June 8, 2026) Go Raw LLC is expanding its February 17, 2026 recall to include an additional lot of Freeze-Dried Chicken Recipe product due to potentially low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1).
New name on the board today, and a different lane entirely. GO Raw LLC, out of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, is expanding its February 17th recall to add one lot of Steve's Real Food Freeze-Dried Chicken Recipe — low thiamine, Vitamin B1. Pet food lane here, not the human-food recalls we've been hitting all week. Hold on — expanding a February recall? So this lot's been sitting in people's cabinets, going into the dog's bowl, for nearly four months after they pulled the first batch? That's the read. Original recall February 17th, this expansion dated June 8th. Thiamine deficiency in a dog isn't nothing — it can be neurological, and you don't see it coming. GO Raw needs to explain what changed in June that February didn't catch. Freeze-dried chicken is shelf-stable, so it can sit for months — exactly why the lot identifier has to be legible. Owners need to match the specific lot, not toss the whole brand on a guess. Right, and check the tub before tonight's dinner. If you've been feeding it and your dog's wobbly or off — that's the vet, not wait-and-see. From USA TODAY:
The company, IF Copack LLC or Initiative Foods, recalled its “Tippy Toes” Apple Pear Banana Fruit Puree on Friday, Feb. 13, due to levels of patulin. Exposure to the naturally occurring substance can lead to immune suppression, nerve damage, headache, fever, and nausea.
The company finally has a name: IF Copack LLC, doing business as Initiative Foods, out of California. The product is Tippy Toes Apple Pear Banana Fruit Puree, recalled February 13th for elevated levels of patulin. A name. Three days I've been asking who makes this, and there it is — Initiative Foods. Now give me the lot and the aisle. And to close the scope question from Sunday — USA TODAY confirms this was sold throughout the US. Treat it as nationwide, not regional. Here's my line on the headline, though. USA TODAY says 'potentially toxic.' The FDA says 'elevated levels of patulin.' For a parent staring at a pouch, 'toxic' is what gets read. I'd be careful with that. Patulin's a naturally occurring substance — at high exposure it's linked to nerve damage, fever, immune suppression. The FDA found it through its Total Diet Study sampling. No reported illnesses so far, and that detail matters as much as the scary word. Fair. But 'no reported illnesses' on baby food doesn't make me relax — it makes me wonder if anybody knew to look. The FDA caught this through sampling, not from a parent calling it in. This one's from NBC New York:
Nearly 10 million more pounds of popular Trader Joe's frozen food items have been recalled amid an ongoing recall after multiple customer complaints about pieces of glass in the products, according to an FDA notice. The affected items, 16 of them, were distributed in more than two dozen states, including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Back to the Trader Joe's frozen aisle. The Ajinomoto recall has expanded — nearly 10 million additional pounds on top of last month's pull, per NBC New York, all because of glass found in the products. Ten million pounds. That's the number I wanted last week when all we had was a lot code and a shrug. So return it, full stop — that part hasn't changed. Sixteen items, more than two dozen states — New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut among them. The labels go beyond Trader Joe's, too: Kroger, Ling Ling, and Tai Pei carried the same product. Right, so a parent could've passed on the Trader Joe's box, grabbed the Ling Ling at Kroger, and walked the exact same glass out the door. Check the establishment number in the USDA mark — P-18356, the B variant, or P-47971. That number matters today. Same factory, four brand names — the inspection number ties them together when the label doesn't. If Food Recall Watch helps you keep tabs on this stuff, subscribe or leave us a review wherever you're listening. It helps other people find the show and keep up with food safety updates.
We've put links to every recall and safety notice from today's briefing in the show notes. If something affects your kitchen, your pantry, or someone you're cooking for, that's the place to read the full details.
That's Food Recall Watch for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.