Here's the status on the 24-state incident, based on further details from the producer that licenses to Walmart.
Walmart’s Great Value house brand of groceries was trusted long before household budget issues became so agonizingly widespread. This week, we covered the Great Value dairy recall affecting three products of varying milkfat percentages and three packaging sizes, for a total of five Great Value products recalled. Walmart locations in a swath of 24 U.S. states were impacted, including but not limited to parts of the South, Midwest, Mountain states, the West Coast, and Alaska.
Further details have come to light, with Saputo USA, the producer of the cottage cheese that licenses to Walmart, providing word on the status of the recall—and offering details that could suggest the cottage cheese was available at retail in states beyond the 24 originally listed. The company said, “The affected products were sold under the Great Value label and were distributed to Walmart stores and distribution centers in” those 24 states.
One logistics trade site refers to Walmart distribution centers, suggesting, “A single distribution center can service up to 100 stores within a 250-mile radius.” Other sources say Walmart distribution centers can ship across state lines.
Here were details from our Wednesday report. Note the company press release says the products were distributed between February 17 and February 20 of this year:
0% milkfat, sold in fuchsia containers of 24 ounces (link to product photos)
- UPC 078742373393
- BEST IF USED BY APR-01-26
- BEST IF USED BY APR-03-26
2% milkfat, sold in blue containers of 24 ounces (link to product photos)
- UPC 078742116730
- BEST IF USED BY APR-01-26
- BEST IF USED BY APR-02-26
- BEST IF USED BY APR-03-26
4% milkfat, sold in red containers of:
- 16 ounces – UPC 078742372358, BEST IF USED BY APR-02-26 (link to product photos)
- 24 ounces – UPC 078742372365, BEST IF USED BY APR-02-26 OR APR-03-26 (link to product photos)
- 3 lbs. – UPC 078742147970, BEST IF USED BY APR-01-26 OR APR-02-26 (link to product photos)
As the mass cottage cheese quantity was flagged for possible production without undergoing pasteurization for food safety, Saputo has stated: “The impacted pasteurizer was returned to normal function and was verified and sealed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.”
The announcement further adds: “While no illnesses or hospitalizations associated with the recalled products have been reported to date, consuming products that are not fully pasteurized can pose a significant health risk, especially to the young and elderly or immunocompromised individuals.”
Saputo’s alert calls the Montreal-headquartered cheese producer “one of the top 10 dairy processors in the world … Furthermore, the Company converts, markets and sells a broad range of specialty cheeses and holds an important portfolio of import licenses for specialty cheeses manufactured abroad.” They add: “Saputo USA is among the top mozzarella, string cheese and domestic blue and goat cheese producers and is one of the largest producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products in this region.”
For daily wellness updates, subscribe to The Healthy newsletter and follow The Healthy on Facebook and Instagram. Keep reading:
- Nearly 60,000 Pounds of Blueberries Recalled at the FDA’s Highest Risk Level in 4 U.S. States and Canada
- Popular Tuna Recalled at the FDA’s Highest Risk Level in 5 States
- I Ate Cottage Cheese Every Day for a Week—Here’s What Happened
- Cream Cheese Recalled in a Major Region After Detected Contamination
