Chobani Yogurt Identifies Mold in Products Made in Idaho, Announces Voluntary Recall

Reported By Guy McCarthy:

Update 7:03 a.m. Chobani, the New York-based maker of Greek-style yogurt, announced a voluntary recall Thursday morning of yogurt products with the code 16-012, expiration dates 9/11/2013 – 10/7/2013, in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The following was posted on Chobani's community blog at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Thursday Sept. 5:

We sincerely thank you for your understanding as we do our best to provide new details in real time. To be extra cautious, we have moved from a voluntary withdrawal to a voluntary recall. This partnership with the FDA will allow us to ensure every single potentially affected product is removed from store shelves, and that we’re reaching the vast majority of our consumers with notification of reported quality concerns.

We won't sugar coat it- this type of mold is not pleasant. While unlikely to have ill health effects upon consumption, nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our consumers, and we are taking all of the necessary steps to uphold our very rigid quality standards.

If you've purchased these products with the code 16-012, expiration dates 9/11/2013 – 10/7/2013, please discard and contact our Customer Loyalty Team: http://chobani.com/care.

Posted 8:30 p.m. Sept. 4 Chobani, a New York-based maker of Greek-style yogurt, has identified a type of mold in products made at its Idaho facility that has caused "swelling or bloating" of some yogurt packaging, according to the company's community blog.

Food Safety News reports Chobani has asked some grocery retailers in the U.S. to pull its yogurt cups from shelves because of "isolated quality concerns" stemming from customer reports of foul-smelling, sour yogurt.


Some customers claim they've been sickened, but a company representative says they've confirmed no cases of anyone sickened by their products.

Chobani notified stores over the Labor Day weekend to remove yogurt cups with the code 16-012 and expiration dates from Sept. 11 to Oct. 7, company spokeswoman Amy Juaristi told theIdaho Statesman.

Chobani has not issued a formal recall, but the company is communicating and cooperating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Juaristi said.

"It's in everybody's best interest for the public to get aware and for us to get the product off of shelves and out of fridges," she said.

Juaristi said the company received reports on its Facebook page that customers got sick after eating the product, the Idaho Statesman reported. But the company's investigation had not turned up any confirmed sicknesses related to the spoiled yogurt.

Here's info from the company's community blog, which was last updated Tuesday evening:

In an effort to keep you as informed as possible, we will revise with updates here. Thanks!

Update as of 9/3/13 6PM:

Our thorough investigation has identified a type of mold commonly found in the dairy environment. The product in question is less than 5% of our production and is limited to products produced at our Idaho facility, which accounts for only one third of our production capacity.

Update as of 8/31/13 at 12PM:

Here at Chobani, nothing is more important to us than the quality of our products and the safety and satisfaction of our customers. Recently, we heard quality concerns surrounding certain products, which were experiencing swelling or bloating.

We’ve been diligently working with our retail partners and have voluntarily and proactively removed and replaced the majority of potentially affected products with the code 16-012, expiration dates 9/11/2013 – 10/7/ 2013 to ensure our fans are met with only the best experience when enjoying our products.

In order to deliver upon our very rigid quality standards, we ask that if you’ve purchased products with these code dates to contact our Customer Loyalty Team directly athttp://chobani.com/care so we can coordinate replacements. Please know that we apply the same standards of excellence to our customer service as we do to our products and can assure you great care within 24 hours or less.

We’re committed to crafting only the best-tasting, highest-quality yogurt made with only natural ingredients, which means all of our products are free of preservatives. As we continue along our journey to provide better options to people everywhere, we thank you for your continued support. Without you, Chobani simply wouldn’t be possible.

Chobani bills itself as "one of the fastest-growing private companies in the US" and claims that "in just five short years we've become the #1 selling yogurt brand in America."

For more info about Chobani visit http://chobani.com/goreal/.