You expect simple things from a grocery store. Fresh food. Honest prices. And the basic assurance that what you feed your family won't make them sick.
Over the past three years, Kroger and its store brands have been caught up in a flurry of food-safety recalls involving food contamination with glass, hidden allergens, and dangerous bacteria causing outbreaks that, in several cases, resulted in deaths. And in one case, federal regulators didn't just flag a product, they put Kroger on notice for failing to get a dangerous product off its shelves.
This is an account of what's been pulled from shelves at Kroger and its subsidiaries including Ralphs, Harris Teeter, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, and the rest of the Kroger family, and why the pattern should worry shoppers.
The unseen threat: dangerous bacteria
The most serious hazards in our food are the ones you can't see, smell, or taste. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli can cause severe illness and, for people who are young, elderly, or pregnant, and people with compromised immune systems, can be deadly. Kroger products have been recalled repeatedly for all three.
A sprawling Listeria outbreak linked to Kroger's own deli salads and Home Chef meals (2025)
In 2025, a deadly Listeria outbreak tied to prepared pasta meals sickened 28 people across 19 states, hospitalized 27, killed 7, and caused one pregnancy loss. The outbreak was traced to pre-cooked pasta which was used in ready-to-eat meals sold at Kroger. Kroger was involved in two separate recalls connected to this outbreak.
First, its Home Chef brand Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo meals were recalled in June 2025; the outbreak originating with the Home Chef recall ultimately killed 7.
Later, in October 2025, Kroger pulled two deli pasta salads, Basil Pesto Bowtie Salad and Smoked Mozzarella Penne Salad, from 1,860 stores across 28 states as a precaution, because they contained the same pasta. Fortunately, while both recalls were part of the same outbreak, no illnesses were attributed to the deli salads specifically.
E. coli in Kroger-brand carrots (late 2024) - Organic carrots sold under the Simple Truth and Kroger labels were swept into a national E. coli recall connected to an outbreak that sickened dozens across roughly 18 states and was linked to one death.
Salmonella in Kroger eggs (June 2025) - Kroger's own Simple Truth brand eggs were among those recalled in a Salmonella outbreak that sickened 134 people, hospitalized more than 38, and killed one.
Foreign Objects
There's nothing quite like finding something in your food that doesn’t belong there. Besides posing a real health threat to you and your family, it diminishes trust in the brand that prepared it for you.
Glass in Kroger-brand fried rice (early 2026) - Kroger's store-brand Chinese Inspirations Chicken Fried Rice was part of a sprawling recall (about 37 million pounds of frozen products across several brands) over glass fragments traced to a carrot ingredient.
Cable fragments in Kroger-brand pancake mix (2022) - Continental Mills recalled Kroger Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix in 17 states due to foreign material contamination with cable fragments from the processing line.
As regulators warn, hard or sharp objects in food can cause choking, cuts, and broken teeth as well as other internal injuries. These hazards are preventable, which is exactly why finding them again and again raises questions about Kroger’s quality control.
Hidden allergens: a life-or-death labeling failure
For the roughly 1 in 10 adults and 1 in 13 children with a food allergy, an unlabeled ingredient isn't an inconvenience, it can be life-threatening. Across recent years, Kroger products and the national brands on its shelves have been pulled for undeclared milk, wheat, soy, peanuts, and more. Recent examples include:
2026: Marinated teriyaki chicken sold at King Soopers and City Market was recalled for undeclared sesame, a major allergen.
2025: Bread sold at Kroger was recalled in 12 states for undeclared hazelnuts, which the FDA warned posed a “risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions” for allergic consumers.
When a major grocer keeps having to admit its labels were wrong, shoppers with allergies are right to wonder whether they can trust the box at all.
The infant formula Kroger was told to pull and didn't
Widely regarded as one of the more shameful Kroger scandals, this recall wasn’t just about a bad product, it was about how Kroger responded.
In November 2025, a brand of infant formula (ByHeart) was recalled over the risk of Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that causes botulism, a paralyzing and potentially fatal illness, amid an outbreak of infant botulism.
Most retailers pull a recalled product immediately, especially baby formula. But on December 12, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued Kroger a formal warning letter, alongside Walmart, Target, and Albertsons, for failing to remove the botulism-risk formula from its shelves. The FDA reported the recalled formula was still for sale at Kroger stores in 10 states days after the recall.
A newborn baby is the single most vulnerable customer a grocery store has. And yet Kroger left formula linked to infant botulism on the shelves until formally cited by federal regulators.
Issues go beyond the products to the stores themselves
While many recall issues originate with suppliers, conditions inside stores are entirely up to Kroger, and health inspectors have documented rodent contamination in Kroger-owned locations across the country. Kroger and Kroger-owned stores including Ralph’s, Harris Teeter, Pick ‘n Save, and King Soopers have faced temporary closures and citations for rodent infestations with documentation of nests, droppings in food areas, chewed product, and live rodents.
Can shoppers trust the chain?
To be fair and accurate: many recalls are initiated by suppliers, not Kroger, and some involve no reported illnesses. Recalls are, in one sense, the system working as intended, catching problems before more people get hurt.
But too many recalls are a sign of something wrong. In just three years, products sold under Kroger's own roof, and often under Kroger's own brand names, have been recalled for Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli, foreign material, and hidden allergens. Several were tied to outbreaks that resulted in deaths. Kroger-owned stores have been shut down or put under weekly watch for rodents. And when a baby-formula recall demanded an urgent response, the FDA had to put Kroger on notice for failure to act to keep families safe.
Kroger says it's committed to safe, high-quality food but its record tells a different story. Every recall is a broken promise. Families deserve a grocer that catches these problems before they reach the customer, and pulls them the moment the issue is identified.
We deserve better. And Kroger deserves to be held accountable.
Found something in your Kroger groceries you shouldn't have - spoiled meat, an expired product, or a recalled item still on the shelf? Tell us your story at KrogerHurtsFamilies.com.
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Sources
Fox Business & USDA-FSIS — Ajinomoto/Kroger Chinese Inspirations fried rice, glass (Feb–Mar 2026)
CBS News, NPR, AAP, & USDA-FSIS — Home Chef / FreshRealm Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Listeria outbreak, (June 2025)
CBS News & FDA — Simple Truth eggs, Salmonella outbreak (June 2025)
FDA - Grimmway Farms Simple Truth/Kroger carrots, E. coli outbreak (Nov 2024)
Newsweek/Kroger alerts — Red Bird Farms teriyaki chicken, undeclared sesame, King Soopers & City Market (Jan 2026)
CDC & FDA — ByHeart infant formula botulism recall (Nov 2025) and FDA warning letter to Kroger for failing to remove it (Dec 12, 2025)
Louisville Public Media & WDRB (Louisville rodents); MidMichiganNow (Orion Township, MI); The Signal (Castaic Ralphs); Baltimore Sun & Fox Business (Baltimore Harris Teeter); Denver7 (Montclair King Soopers); FOX6 (Milwaukee Pick 'n Save)
