A bag of frozen organic blueberries from a Chilean supplier has now sickened 17 people in Florida and Georgia and triggered the government’s most serious food recall warning.
Quick Take
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) upgraded the recall of GreenWise frozen blueberries and mixed berries sold at Publix to Class I, its highest-risk category.
- The berries came from Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. of San Carlos, Chile, and are linked to E. coli O145:H28 contamination.
- Confirmed illnesses have grown from 12 to 17 cases, with six people hospitalized and no deaths reported.
- The recall has expanded beyond Publix to include a Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend sold at Walmart.
What The FDA Actually Announced
The Food and Drug Administration posted its first recall notice on July 3, 2026. It flagged a single lot of frozen GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries sold in 10-ounce bags, with a lot code of 60401 and a best-by date of February 9, 2028. At that point, the agency had linked 12 confirmed illnesses to the product, all involving stomach cramps and related symptoms tied to E. coli exposure.
By July 29, Publix expanded the action on its own, pulling all lots of GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries and Whole Mixed Berries from its shelves, not just the single flagged batch. Days later, on August 22, the FDA upgraded the entire recall to Class I. That’s the agency’s top classification, reserved for situations where there is a “reasonable probability” a product will cause serious health problems or death.
Why Chile, Frozen Fruit, And E. Coli Keep Showing Up Together
Freezing preserves food. It does not sanitize it. The FDA and outside food-safety voices have been blunt about this point during the outbreak: freezing does not kill most bacteria, it simply pauses spoilage while leaving contamination intact until the product thaws in someone’s kitchen. That is why a batch packed and frozen months earlier can still carry live E. coli when it finally reaches a shopper’s freezer.
Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA used interviews with sick patients to trace the outbreak back to frozen organic blueberries from the Chilean supplier. Most people who got sick reported eating the fruit before symptoms started, which is the standard signal health officials use to move from suspicion to a formal product recall. This case followed that same pattern from single-lot alert to full-brand pullback.
The Case Count Keeps Climbing, And So Does The Recall List
As of September 3, 2026, the CDC counted 17 confirmed infections tied to the outbreak. Thirteen of those patients live in Florida and four in Georgia. Six people needed hospital care, and health officials report no deaths. Illness onset dates stretch from May 11 through August 2, meaning some people were sick for weeks before the outbreak was publicly identified and traced.
On September 2, the recall grew again. Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur expanded its original July notice to cover one lot of Great Value frozen Organic Triple Berry Blend, sold at Walmart in a 10-ounce package. That move pulled a second major retailer into the outbreak and pushed the recall into additional states beyond Florida and Georgia.
What Shoppers Should Actually Do Right Now
Anyone with GreenWise frozen blueberries or mixed berries from Publix, or the Great Value Triple Berry Blend from Walmart, should check the lot codes against the FDA’s posted notices before eating them. The safest move with any recalled frozen fruit is to toss it or return it, not to cook it down, since E. coli contamination isn’t something home kitchens can reliably neutralize through casual heating.
FROZEN BERRY OUTBREAK REACHES FDA’S HIGHEST RISK LEVEL
This one may still be sitting in freezers across America.
An E. coli outbreak linked to frozen organic blueberries has now reached the FDA’s most serious recall classification.
12 people have been sickened and 4… pic.twitter.com/972k9RUTM9
— Michael Bradbury (@MrMBB333) August 22, 2026
This outbreak is still an open investigation, and the case count could shift again as the CDC and FDA finish their traceback work. But the core facts are settled: a Chilean supplier’s frozen berries carried E. coli O145:H28, real people got sick, and federal regulators moved decisively once the evidence pointed clearly at the product. That is the system working the way it’s supposed to, even if it took a few weeks longer than any parent scooping berries into a smoothie would have liked.
Sources:
fda.gov, abcnews.com, usatoday.com, cdc.gov
