The reported quantity of bags totals more than 25,000. Here's the brand that consumers in one region will likely recognize.
If you successfully avoid the call of that crinkly potato chip bag, it may be because of the well-known fat content and empty calories in this quintessential junk food. Salt, however, is another important consideration—especially because high sodium intake can contribute to high blood pressure, which is an issue that the University of Southern California notes as affecting 122 million Americans ages 20 and older, or nearly 50% of the U.S. population. The American Heart Association recommends sodium intake limited at 2,300 milligrams per day.
Even if you’re mindful of your sodium consumption, snackers in one Southern state may have gotten more salt than what was listed on their chip bag. Today, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a report that a reported 25,200 eight-ounce bags of Lowes Foods sour cream and onion-flavored potato chips were recently recalled for a reason we rarely see: “Inaccurate nutritional data in Nutrition Facts including but not limited to, understated sodium content,” the FDA report states. “Undeclared ingredients including but not limited to, monosodium glutamate.”
Monosodium glutamate, often simply called “MSG,” is a flavor enhancer that has garnered some controversy over the years. Harvard Medical School explains that an FDA-backed analysis in the 1990s found “that any ill effects” from consuming MSG “were mild and short-lived, and were typically associated with large doses (more than 3 grams) of MSG that were consumed without food.” The university adds: “While the FDA considers the addition of MSG to foods to be ‘generally recognized as safe,’ it still requires food manufacturers to list MSG on the ingredient panel … [I]f a food includes any ingredient that contains naturally occurring MSG (such as yeast extract, hydrolyzed yeast, or protein isolate) it cannot claim ‘no MSG’ or ‘no added MSG’ on its packaging.”
It’s unclear what other ingredients may have gone undeclared in the Lowes Foods chips, but on March 10, the FDA gave this recall as Class II designation—the second-highest risk level in their three-tier scale. Class II recalls indicate “a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote,” as determined by FDA experts.
Details to identify the recalled chips include:
- UPC number: 7 41643 05576 6
- Other possible codes: 21FEB2026, 28FEB2026, 12MAR2026, 19MAR2026, 02APR2026, 01JUL2026, 15JUL2026, 01OCT2026, 22OCT2026, 19NOV2026, 09DEC2026
The FDA report suggests the chips were manufactured or distributed by Uncle Ray’s LLC in Detroit.
The Lowes Foods’ site explains the brand is a supermarket chain in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The company owns other grocery retailers, such as Birds Food Stores and some Hannaford locations. Distribution for this chip recall is said to be North Carolina, though it’s not clear whether product may have been shipped to locations in the other states beyond that point.
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