Why Walmart-Sold Broccoli Is Being Recalled In 20 States
While 2024 was a big year for food recalls — soft cheeses sold at Aldi were taken off shelves in November over listeria concerns, and even McDonald's dealt with customer impacts from an E.coli outbreak — we've arrived at one of our first recalls of 2025 ... and it's only the 2nd. (Technically the company announcement came at the end of last year.) According to an company announcement, Braga Fresh, the manufacturer behind Walmart's in-house Marketside label, is voluntarily recalling a single production lot of ready-to-eat broccoli florets over potential listeria contamination (via the FDA).
Just like a vegetable medley recall in December prompted by the possibility of E.coli contamination, fortunately there have been no reported illnesses associated with the Walmart broccoli recall. The 12-ounce bags of Marketside Broccoli Florets were tested in a Texas store during random sampling. Just one sample from the location was found to be contaminated, but the whole production lot has been recalled out of an abundance of caution.
What you need to know about the recalled broccoli
Affected bags of Walmart broccoli florets had UPC codes of 6 81131 32884 5 printed on the back of the package and lot codes of BFFG327A6 on the front. It's interesting to note that the affected lot had a use-by date of December 10, 2024, which has now obviously gone by. However, there remains a concern that consumers may have frozen the broccoli for future use. If you have any of the affected broccoli in your freezer, you should discard it.
Per the announcement, the potentially contaminated broccoli was distributed to stores in 20 Midwest, Southwest, and West Coast states, but no other Marketside or Braga Fresh products are known to be affected. If you have any questions related to this recall, Braga Fresh urges you to call its customer service line at 877-456-7445 during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. PST, or to email the company at WeCare@bragafresh.com. And keep in mind that the increase in food recalls may actually be a good sign of better safety measures in our food system.