FDA Investigates E. Coli Outbreak from Organic Carrots

Grimmway Farms initiated a voluntary recall of multiple sizes and brands of bagged organic whole and baby carrots.

  • Organic whole carrots were available for purchase at retail from August 14 through October 23, 2024 (365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Marketside, Nature’s Promise, O Organic, President’s Choice, Simple Truth, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Wholesome Pantry).
  • Organic baby carrots include specific best-if-used-by dates printed on the bags ranging from September 11 to November 12, 2024 (365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Grimmway Farms, Kroger, LIDL, Marketside, Nature’s Promise, O Organic, President’s Choice, Raley’s, Simple Truth, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Wholesome Pantry).

A full list of recalled products is below. These products are likely no longer available for sale in stores but could be in people’s homes.

Symptoms of E. coli

Symptoms include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, nausea, and/or vomiting. Symptoms begin anywhere from a few days after consuming contaminated food or up to nine days later.

The severity or presence of certain symptoms may depend on the type of pathogenic E. coli that is causing the infection. Some infections can cause severe bloody diarrhea and lead to life-threatening conditions, such as a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), or the development of high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, and neurologic problems.

Stores Affected

These products were sold nationwide but are likely no longer available for sale in stores.

Status

Ongoing

Recommendation

  • Consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers and should not eat recalled bagged whole or baby carrots. If you have these products in your home, do not eat or use them, throw them away, and clean and sanitize surfaces they touched. If you purchased organic whole or baby carrots and stored them without the original packaging and don’t know what brand they are, you should not eat them and should throw them away.
  • Retailers and distributors that purchased recalled bagged whole or baby carrots should not sell this product and should notify their customers. These products are likely past shelf-life and no longer available for sale in stores, but distributors and retailers should check their refrigerators and freezers and should not serve or sell recalled bagged whole or baby carrots.
    • Retailers that are unsure if they received these products may need to contact their supplier. If you are unable to determine whether or not recalled product was received, you should discard the contents of the bins and use extra care to clean and sanitize the bins before refilling. 
  • Retailers, distributors, and consumers should follow FDA’s safe handling and cleaning advice and use extra care in cleaning and sanitizing any surfaces and containers that may have come in contact with these products to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
  • Contact your healthcare provider if you think you may have symptoms of an E. coli infection after eating organic carrots.

Update: November 17, 2024

The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating illnesses in a multi-state outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O121:H9 infections linked to organic whole and baby carrots supplied by Grimmway Farms of Bakersfield, California.

State and local public health officials are interviewing people about the foods they ate in the week before they got sick. Of the 27 people interviewed, 26 (96%) reported eating carrots.

FDA’s traceback investigation identified Grimmway Farms as the common supplier of organic whole and baby carrots in this outbreak. On November 16, 2024, Grimmway Farms initiated a voluntary recall of multiple quantities and brands of bagged organic whole and baby carrots and contacted their distributing customers. The retail-packaged organic whole carrots were in stores for purchase from August 14 through October 23, 2024. The organic baby carrots have different best-if-used-by-dates ranging from September 11 through November 12, 2024. A full list of recalled products is below.

Although product is likely no longer on the market, carrots can last a long time when refrigerated or frozen. Consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers and discard these recalled products. Distributors and retailers that may have received recalled bagged organic whole and baby carrots should follow the recommendations above and contact their customers.

FDA is working with the firm to determine the source of contamination and whether additional products are affected. This advisory will be updated as information becomes available.

On November 16, 2024, Grimmway Farms initiated a voluntary recall of multiple quantities and brands of bagged organic whole and baby carrots and contacted their distributing customers. Recalled products were shipped directly to retail distribution centers nationwide in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. These products should no longer be in grocery stores but may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers.

Organic whole carrots, which do not have a best-if-used-by date printed on the bag, but were available for purchase at retail stores from August 14 through October 23, 2024:

LabelBag SizesSample Product Image
3651lb, 2lb, 5lb365 Carrots
Bunny Luv1lb, 2lb, 5lb, 10lb, 25lbBunny Luv Carrots 
Cal-Organic1lb, 2lb, 5lb, 6lb, 10lb, 25lbCal-Organic Carrots
Compliments2lbCompliments Carrots 
Full Circle1lb, 2lb, 5lbFull Circle Carrots
Good & Gather2lbGood & Gather Carrots
GreenWise1lb, 25lbsGreenWise Carrots
Marketside2lbMarketside Carrots
Nature’s Promise1lb, 5lbNature's Promise Carrots
O Organic1lb, 2lb, 5lb, 10lbO-Organic Carrots
President’s Choice2lbPresident's Choice Carrots
Simple Truth1lb, 2lb, 5lbSimple Truth Carrots
Trader Joe’s1lbTrader Joe's Carrots
Wegmans1lb, 2lb, 5lbWegmans Carrots
Wholesome Pantry1lb, 2lb, 5lbWholesome Pantry Carrots

Organic baby carrots with best-if-used-by-dates ranging from September 11 through November 12, 2024:  

LabelBag SizesBest if used by:FromBest if used by:ThroughSample Product Image
36512oz, 1lb, 2lb9/11/2411/02/24365 Baby Carrots
Bunny Luv1lb, 2lb, 3lb, 5lb9/11/2411/12/24Bunny Luv Baby Carrots
Cal-Organic12oz, 1lb, 2lb, 2pk/2lbs9/11/2411/02/24Cal-Organic Baby Carrots
Compliments1lb9/14/2410/24/24Compliments Baby Carrots
Full Circle1lb9/14/2410/24/24Full Circle Baby Carrots
Good & Gather12oz, 1lb9/14/2411/02/24Good & Gather Baby Carrots
GreenWise1lb9/11/2410/26/24GreenWise Baby Carrots
Grimmway Farms25 lb bag9/11/2410/03/24 
Kroger2lb9/14/2411/02/24 
LIDL1lb9/16/2411/07/24 
Marketside12oz, 1lb, 2lb9/11/2411/02/24Marketside Baby Carrots
Nature’s Promise1lb9/13/2410/25/24Nature's Promise Baby Carrots
O Organic12oz, 1lb, 2lb9/11/2411/02/24O-Organic Baby Carrots
President’s Choice1lb, 2lb9/11/2411/02/24President's Choice Baby Carrots
Raley’s1lb9/14/2410/23/24Raley’s Baby Carrots
Simple Truth1lb9/14/2410/20/24Simple Truth Baby Carrots
Sprouts1lb, 2lb9/13/2411/04/24Sprouts Baby Carrots
Trader Joe’s1lb9/13/2411/04/24Trader Joe's Baby Carrots
Wegmans12oz, 1lb, 2lb9/14/2411/02/24Wegmans Baby Carrots
Wholesome Pantry1lb, 2lb9/16/2411/07/24Wholesome Pantry Baby Carrots