E. Coli Warning Hits Walmart

Walmart store sign on exterior wall — HUGE WALMART RECALL

A recall that started with one bag of frozen blueberries has now spread to Walmart shelves in 16 states, sickening 17 people along the way.

Quick Take

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says frozen berries tied to a Chilean supplier may carry E. coli O145:H28.
The outbreak has grown to 17 confirmed illnesses, including six hospitalizations, since May 11.
Walmart’s Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend is now part of the recall, adding to earlier Publix products.
The FDA has classified the recall as Class I, its most serious risk level.

What Started as One Recalled Bag

On July 3, 2026, Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., a grower based in San Carlos, Chile, recalled its 10-ounce GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries.

The company said the fruit may carry Escherichia coli O145:H28, a strain that can cause serious stomach illness. At the time, the FDA reported 12 confirmed cases of people getting sick after eating the berries.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joined the investigation soon after, tracing the illnesses back to the same supplier through interviews with sick patients and lab testing of leftover product.

Health officials told anyone with the recalled blueberries in their freezer to throw the bags away or return them to the store for a refund.

The Recall Grows and the Warning Gets Louder

By late July, Publix expanded the recall to cover every lot of its GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries and Whole Mixed Berries, not just the original batch.

Then on August 19, the FDA upgraded the entire recall to Class I, its highest risk category, meaning the agency found a reasonable chance the product could cause serious harm or even death.

That kind of upgrade does not happen often, and it signals investigators found stronger evidence linking the fruit directly to illness.

The case count kept climbing through the summer. By early September, the New York Times reported the outbreak had reached 17 people across Florida and Georgia, with illness onset dates stretching from May 11 to August 2.

Six of those patients ended up in the hospital, a jump from the four hospitalizations reported just weeks earlier. No deaths have been reported.

RECALL ALERT: A blueberry recall over E. coli concerns is expanding to include Great Value frozen Organic Triple Berry Blend sold at Walmart stores across 16 states.

No illnesses have been reported from the mixed berry packages, but consumers are being urged to throw them away… pic.twitter.com/7WCtrNOUOm

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) September 4, 2026

Walmart’s Berries Join the Recall List

Fox Business reported the alert expanded to frozen mixed berry packages containing strawberries, blackberries and blueberries sold at Walmart stores across 16 states.

Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend, Walmart’s store brand, traces back to the same Chilean supplier that triggered the original GreenWise recall.

That connection matters because it shows the contamination likely happened somewhere in the supply chain before the fruit ever reached a specific retailer’s packaging line.

Freezing fruit does not kill bacteria like E. coli; it simply pauses them in place. That is why a contamination problem from months ago can still show up in a bag pulled from a home freezer today.

Frozen products also sit in freezers far longer than fresh produce, which means recalled bags can linger in homes long after news coverage moves on.

FDA expands the Walmart frozen berry recall to 16 states — 17 sickened across Florida and Georgia, E. coli linked to Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend. The 5 facts shoppers need to know: https://t.co/pZlIKwBSlc

— Nova Cechinel (@NovaCechinel) September 5, 2026

What Families Should Do With Recalled Berries

The CDC and FDA are advising a simple rule: do not eat, sell, or serve any recalled frozen blueberries or mixed berry blends.

Check package labels for the GreenWise and Great Value brand names, along with the Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. supplier connection, before deciding what stays in the freezer. If the bag matches a recalled lot, throw it out or take it back to the store.

E. coli infections often bring stomach cramps, diarrhea and sometimes fever within a few days of eating contaminated food. Most healthy adults recover without hospital care, but the very young, the elderly and people with weaker immune systems face higher risk of serious complications.

Anyone who ate the recalled berries and develops symptoms should contact a doctor and mention the recall, since it can help guide faster diagnosis and treatment.