Berry Recall – FDA Updates to Highest Risk Level

Federal health officials just confirmed that frozen berries sitting in freezers across the Southeast carry a real risk of death, not just illness.

Quick Take

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) upgraded a recall of GreenWise Organic frozen blueberries and mixed berries to Class I, its highest risk category.
The berries are linked to a multistate E. coli O145:H28 outbreak that has sickened 12 people and hospitalized four, with no deaths reported so far.
Publix pulled all lots of the products from stores across eight southeastern states after the Chilean supplier first recalled them in early July.
A Class I recall means there is a reasonable chance eating the product could cause serious illness or death.

How A July Recall Became An August Emergency

The trouble started July 3, when Chilean grower-packer Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., which sells under the Comfrut brand, recalled its GreenWise Organic frozen blueberries. Publix expanded that recall on July 29 to cover every lot of both organic blueberries and mixed berries sold under its store brand, after investigators connected the fruit to a growing outbreak.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA have been working the case together since late July. Their joint investigation traced illnesses in several states back to the same frozen fruit, pointing to Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O145:H28 as the culprit behind the outbreak.

What A Class I Label Actually Means

Not every recall carries the same weight. The FDA sorts recalls into three classes, and Class I sits at the top for a reason. The agency defines it as a situation where there is a “reasonable probability” that using the product will cause serious health problems or death. That is a legal and technical standard, not a guess, and it only gets applied when the evidence supports it.

By August 19, health officials had enough data to move this recall into that top tier. As of the July 30 update, the outbreak tally stood at 12 confirmed illnesses and four hospitalizations, with zero deaths reported. Those numbers can still change as the investigation continues, since outbreak counts typically grow before they shrink.

Why Frozen Fruit Makes This Harder To Contain

Fresh produce recalls tend to resolve fast because the product spoils or gets eaten within days. Frozen fruit is different. A bag bought weeks or even months ago can still be sitting in a home freezer, which means the exposure window for a frozen product recall stretches far longer than it would for something perishable. That is exactly why regulators keep pushing the same blunt message: check your freezer now, and if you have GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries or Whole Mixed Berries, do not eat, sell, or serve them.

The FDA has upgraded a frozen berry recall to its highest-risk Class 1 warning after an E. coli outbreak linked to GreenWise organic blueberries and mixed berries.https://t.co/ShM3HbxCUy

— gwurld (@Gwurld4026) August 21, 2026

This is not the first time frozen berries or produce has landed in Class I territory, and it will not be the last. Analysts who track federal recall data have documented over a thousand food recall incidents in the past decade alone, representing hundreds of millions of pounds of product pulled from shelves. The pattern holds a lesson for shoppers: bagged frozen fruit feels shelf-stable and safe, but it comes from a global supply chain with the same contamination risks as anything else on the produce aisle. Consumers who bought GreenWise berries in the affected states should throw them out or return them to Publix for a refund, and anyone who has eaten them and developed diarrhea, fever, or stomach cramps should contact a doctor without delay.