Publix urged shoppers to check their freezers after one lot of GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries was voluntarily recalled following reports of 12 confirmed illnesses tied to E. coli O145:H28. The recall was announced July 3 by Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. and applies to a specific 10-ounce package sold through Publix.
The recall matters now because the blueberries were distributed in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, and Publix customers in those states may still have the product at home. The affected lot is limited to code 60401 with a best-by date of Feb. 9, 2028, making the warning narrow but urgent for anyone who bought that package.
Publix and the supplier linked the action to reports of illness among people who had eaten the product, and the count gives the recall immediate weight: 12 confirmed cases were reported between May 11 and June 5. E. coli O145 is a Shiga toxin-producing strain that can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that may be bloody and vomiting. Most healthy people recover within about a week, but infections can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, especially in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.
What the notice does not say is whether every one of those 12 illnesses came from the recalled lot. That gap matters because the recall is voluntary, yet it follows confirmed infections tied to the product. Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. said it instructed customers who received the affected lot to remove it from distribution, and it is investigating the source of the potential contamination while working with regulators and retail partners.
Consumers who have the affected blueberries should not eat them. They should throw them away or return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. For now, the question is not whether the product was pulled from shelves; it was. The remaining issue is whether the investigation can pin down how one lot reached stores in eight states with a strain of E. coli that has already been linked to illness.
