Chilean Packer Tied Walmart Berries to E. coli Outbreak

Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. on September 2 added one Walmart Great Value frozen berry lot to an E. coli outbreak already tied to 17 illnesses. The Chilean packer, which trades as Comfrut and fills store-brand bags, had already recalled Publix GreenWise blueberries on July 3.

The new bags carry a February 9, 2028, use-by date. The company said no illnesses have been tied to the Walmart lot itself, and the Food and Drug Administration treated the move as traceback from the earlier recall.

Comfrut Packed Both Store Brands From San Carlos

Shoppers saw GreenWise at Publix and Great Value at Walmart. The fruit in both lines traces to the same firm in San Carlos, Chile. FDA traceback named Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. as the supplier of the frozen organic blueberries in this outbreak, and the company’s U.S. recall desk answers at a Comfrut food-safety email and a North Carolina phone line.

Comfrut describes itself as Chile’s largest frozen-fruit company and says it specializes in retail packing for private labels and branded lines. Its site says it packs more than 200 SKUs on year-round programs for retailers, with traceability “from farm to consumer.” A Chilean food-industry profile puts the original San Carlos plant in Chile’s Nuble region, with later plants in Curico, Mexico, and the United States.

That private-label model is why a bag in a Florida freezer and a bag in a Wisconsin freezer can share a packer and a lot family while showing two different store names. Joshua Weiss is listed as the media contact, at Info.foodsafety@comfrut.com or 336-899-5612, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern.

THE PACKER BEHIND THE BAGS

• Legal name: Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., San Carlos, Chile.
• Trading name: Comfrut, which says safety is its number one priority and that it packs more than 200 SKUs.
• U.S. desk: Joshua Weiss, Info.foodsafety@comfrut.com, 336-899-5612.
• What it packed here: organic frozen blueberries that went into Publix GreenWise bags and a Walmart Great Value triple-berry mix.

The outbreak strain is Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O145:H28. STEC can cause bloody diarrhea and, in some patients, a kidney injury called hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which hits young children, older adults, and people with weak immune systems hardest.

Traceback Took Until September to Hit Walmart

People started getting sick on May 11, 2026. Florida health officials told CDC partners about a cluster of E. coli O145 illnesses on July 1, after interviews pointed at frozen GreenWise organic blueberries sold at Publix. Publix had already run an internal stop-sale at the end of June. The packer recalled a single 10-ounce GreenWise lot on July 3, lot 60401, with a best-by date of February 9, 2028.

On July 29, Publix widened that action to all lots of GreenWise organic whole blueberries and whole mixed berries in 10-ounce and 48-ounce bags, after FDA’s remote inspection of the San Carlos plant raised concerns about at least one other blueberry lot used in more GreenWise products. Only on September 2 did the same firm expanded its recall to Great Value bags at Walmart, 61 days after the first public recall. The Walmart lot code, 6040 01-6, sits in the same 60401 family as the first GreenWise lot, with the same February 9, 2028, date.

That lag is the private-label problem in practice. Investigators had the Chilean supplier in early July, and the July recall of GreenWise blueberries already named lot 60401. It still took two more months of traceback to pull the mix sold under Walmart’s store brand. Some local alerts on September 3 still described 12 illnesses, the July 6 figure, and talked about the Walmart bags as if they were a separate outbreak.

Recall expansion: Do not eat, sell, or serve a specific lot of recalled Great Value frozen berries or recalled GreenWise frozen berries. https://t.co/09XacVSdBg

— U.S. FDA Foods (@FDAfood) September 3, 2026

There are no illnesses associated with this specific product to date, and this is market action is taken as a precautionary measure following traceback information of the previous recall.

Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A., September 2, 2026, company recall notice posted by FDA

THE RECALL TIMELINE

1. May 11, 2026: First known illness begins.
2. End of June 2026: Publix stops sale of the GreenWise frozen berries inside its stores.
3. July 1, 2026: Florida Department of Health notifies CDC about an E. coli O145 cluster.
4. July 3, 2026: The Chilean packer recalls GreenWise Organic IQF Blueberries, 10 oz, lot 60401.
5. July 6, 2026: CDC posts 12 cases and 4 hospital stays in Florida and Georgia.
6. July 27, 2026: FDA adds the San Carlos firm to Import Alert 99-35 for frozen blueberries.
7. July 29, 2026: Publix recalls all lots of GreenWise organic blueberries and mixed berries.
8. August 2, 2026: Last illness onset in CDC’s September 3 epidemiologic update.
9. September 2, 2026: The packer adds Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend, lot 6040 01-6, sold at Walmart.
10. September 3, 2026: CDC raises the outbreak to 17 cases and 6 hospital stays; FDA publishes the Walmart notice.

CDC still lists only Florida and Georgia as states with confirmed cases. Those two states were on the original Publix map. The Walmart recall reaches 14 other states where no case has been counted, which fits the company’s line that the Great Value lot is a traceback add-on, not a second cluster.

Which Great Value Bags Were Recalled?

Only one Walmart product is in the September 2 notice. It is Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend in a 10-ounce bag, with strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries, UPC 7874211226, lot code 6040 01-6 on the front of the package, best if used by February 9, 2028. The company said no other Great Value frozen fruit lots are included. FDA said the bags went to Walmart stores in 16 states and have been taken off shelves, but a date that far out means bags can still sit at home.

RECALLED BAGS BY STORE BRAND

The 16 Walmart states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. The 8 Publix states are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. FDA’s combined distribution list runs to 19 states once Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia are counted with the Walmart map. Product could have moved farther than those lists, the agency said.

GreenWise UPCs in the July 29 Publix notice are 41415-06453 and 41415-12053 for blueberries, and 41415-06753 and 41415-12153 for mixed berries. If fruit was dumped into another container and the bag is gone, FDA said to throw it out.

Seventeen Infections and Six Hospital Stays

CDC’s September 3 investigation update lists 17 cases and 6 hospitalizations in two states, with no deaths. That is 5 more cases and 2 more hospital stays than the July 6 public count of 12 cases and 4 hospital stays. Six of 17 people with information available were hospitalized, which CDC records as 35%. Illnesses started on dates ranging from May 11, 2026, to August 2, 2026.

THE OUTBREAK IN NUMBERS

• 17 cases: CDC added 5 since the July 6 update, all still in Florida and Georgia.
• 6 hospital stays: 35% of people with information available, up from 4 on July 6.
• Ages 2 to 88: Median age 47; 41% female and 59% male among 17 people.
• 85% ate frozen blueberries: 11 of 13 people interviewed, against 24% in CDC’s FoodNet survey of typical diets.

On July 6, 7 of 9 people interviewed (78%) had eaten frozen blueberries, and 5 of them named GreenWise organic berries from Publix. Whole genome sequencing showed the bacteria from patients were closely related, which CDC said points to a shared food source. The agency also said the true number of sick people is likely much higher, because many people recover without a stool test, and it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to decide whether a new patient belongs in the outbreak.

CDC lists symptoms that usually start 3 to 4 days after swallowing the bacteria, with most people recovering in 5 to 7 days without treatment. Call a doctor for diarrhea plus a fever higher than 102 degrees Fahrenheit, diarrhea lasting more than 3 days, bloody diarrhea, vomiting that keeps liquids down, or signs of dehydration such as dry mouth, little urine, and dizziness on standing. HUS can bring high blood pressure, pale skin, easy bruising, unusual bleeding, swelling in the legs, and, in severe cases, kidney failure, seizures, or stroke.

New Chilean Loads Can Be Held at the Border

FDA ran a remote regulatory assessment of Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. in San Carlos and collected records on how the firm handles hazards. That review, described in the agency’s July 30 outbreak update, is what pushed Publix past a single lot and onto every GreenWise blueberry and mixed-berry bag. FDA also said it had concerns about other products from the firm that had not yet entered the United States, and it told the company so.

The enforcement step that lasts after a shelf sweep is the Import Alert 99-35 red list. That alert lets FDA detain fresh produce that appears to have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions, without examining every load. The red list names Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. at Ruta 5 Sur Km. 390, San Carlos, Nuble, Chile, as of July 27, 2026, for frozen blueberries, with enterohemorrhagic E. coli as the listed problem. A Comfrut S.A. entry at an Americo Vespucio Norte address in Vitacura, Santiago, was published the next day, also for frozen blueberries and the same pathogen.

Frozen blueberries from the firm that are offered for entry “may be detained without physical examination,” FDA said. The company can still send paperwork showing it has fixed the conditions that put it on the list. Until then, new Chilean loads from that plant do not need a lab test at the dock to be held. The outbreak investigation remained open on September 3, and FDA said more products could be added.

Best-By Dates Run to February 2028

Stores can pull a bag in a day. A home freezer does not. Both the first GreenWise lot and the Great Value mix are marked best by February 9, 2028, so a bag bought in late spring 2026 can still look fine next winter and the winter after that. CDC’s advice is the same for every recalled bag: do not eat it, throw it out or take it back, and wash items and surfaces that touched the fruit with hot soapy water or a dishwasher.

WHAT TO DO WITH A RECALLED BAG

• Match the codes: On the Walmart mix, look for lot 6040 01-6 on the front and UPC 7874211226; on the first GreenWise blueberry bag, lot 60401 and best by February 9, 2028.
• Skip the taste test: Frozen fruit is not sterile, and cooking or blending does not make a recalled STEC bag a good idea.
• Return or toss: Walmart is offering a full refund on the Great Value lot; Publix said the same for GreenWise bags.
• Clean the freezer zone: FDA told restaurants and retailers that got recalled fruit, including wholesale, to sanitize surfaces and not to sell any they had repacked.

CDC was still asking people on September 3 to check freezers for recalled blueberries and berry mixes. The investigation was open. The Walmart lot had no illnesses tied to it in the company’s notice, and the known patients remained in two states. The bags with a February 9, 2028, date can still be sitting in those 16 Walmart states, and in the eight Publix states, long after the shelves went empty.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting on a federal food recall and an open outbreak investigation, and it is for information only. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a substitute for care from a licensed physician, and it is not advice about whether to seek a refund or file a claim. Anyone who ate recalled berries and has diarrhea, fever, vomiting, or signs of dehydration should contact a doctor or other qualified clinician, and parents of young children should ask about HUS if those symptoms appear. Case counts, lot lists, and store maps reflect FDA and CDC notices as of September 3, 2026, and can change as the investigation continues.