Frozen Waffle Recall: Throw Out These Grocery Store Brands

If there's a box of frozen waffles in your freezer right now — any box at all — you should probably pull it out and check the lot code. A massive recall encompassing more than 500 different frozen waffle varieties under the name TreeHouse Foods has just been issued for possible listeria contamination. TreeHouse Foods, Inc. issued a voluntary recall on October 18, 2024. At least 25 brands at major retailers across the U.S. and Canada have been affected, including Walmart's Great Value and Target's Good & Gather, Aldi's Breakfast Best brand, and Dollar General's Clover Valley brand. The affected frozen waffle brands were also distributed at Food Lion, Giant Eagle, Hannaford, Harris Teeter, H-E-B, PriceChopper, Publix, Schnucks, Southeastern Grocers, Tops, and more. 

A full list of recalled brand names, best by dates, and lot codes is provided by the FDA in a list 14 pages long (yikes). Kodiak Cakes, Foodhold, and Simple Truth brand names are also among those recalled. Multiple different flavors have been pulled from shelves, from blueberry waffles to chocolate chip, pumpkin, buttermilk, multigrain, homestyle, and protein waffles. Foodies might be feeling especially weary, as this latest mass recall coincides with an ongoing USDA investigation of the Boar's Head deli meat and cheese brand following a July 2024 listeria outbreak that killed at least 10 people and sent dozens more to the hospital. Consumers who have purchased the recalled frozen waffles are being advised to throw them away or return them to their place of purchase for credit.

TreeHouse Foods is a food processing company based in Oak Brook, Illinois, that distributes products to be sold via grocery retailers, wholesale sellers, and restaurants across North America. As the company's site pledges, "[O]ur employees are supported by vigilant supervision to ensure that our safe practices are implemented consistently throughout the manufacturing and distribution process." Indeed, the potential listeria outbreak was discovered during one such routine facility test. Notably, mega-manufacturing giant TreeHouse has 26 different production plants across the U.S. and Canada, though the location at which the contamination was uncovered was not specified. 

No cases of illness caused by ingesting the frozen waffles have been reported yet. However, listeria bacteria can incubate for three to 70 days, meaning symptoms can appear within the first day of ingesting contaminated food or as long as 10 weeks afterward. The especially tricky thing about listeria is that it can grow in cold temperatures, meaning the refrigerator or freezer doesn't always kill it. According to the CDC, contracting a listeria infection is considered "rare, but serious." 

Symptoms are typically flu-like, with fever, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, vomiting, and indigestion being common. Of the 1,600 people estimated to contract a listeria infection in the U.S. every year, 260 cases are fatal. Listeria infection can be particularly dangerous for young children (famously a significant portion of frozen waffles' consumer base), pregnant people, adults over 65, and folks with compromised immune systems. So, if you're a person who likes to find creative ways to use frozen waffles, be on the lookout.