Whole Foods Recall Issued For Vegan Chick’n Salad and Chicken Salad

A labeling mistake has resulted in the labels being mixed up for Whole Foods chicken salad containing real chicken and a vegan version that contains no meat, which not only puts vegan customers at risk of eating meat by accident, but also may pose a serious risk for customers with soy and egg allergies.  

On May 9, the FDA announced a Whole Foods Market Curried Chicken Salad recall and Vegan Chick’n Salad recall, affecting products sold in 15 stores on the east coast. The recall came after it was discovered that bulk chicken and chick’n salad sold at the salad bars had the labels reversed.

The FDA and Whole Foods warns that the mix up led to undeclared allergens in both products: the vegan salad contained undeclared soy and the curried chicken salad contained undeclared egg. People with allergies to either of those products could be at risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume them. There have been no reported illnesses or injuries linked to the chicken salad recalls.

The recall affects bulk curried chicken salad and bulk vegan curried chick’n salad sold on May 7 and May 8 at 15 Whole Foods Market locations, including:

• Darien, Connecticut
• Fairfield, Connecticut
• West Hartford, Connecticut
• Portland, Maine
• Framingham, Massachusetts
• Milburn-Union, New Jersey
• West orange, New Jersey
• Jericho, New York
• Lake Grove, New York
• Manhasset, New York
• Columbus Circle in New York City, New York
• Upper West Side in New York City, New York

Signs have been posted in affected Whole Foods locations and the products have been removed from the salad bar. Whole Foods Markets recommends consumers who have purchased the recalled chicken salads return them to the store for a full refund. Consumers with questions can contact the store where it was purchased or call (617) 492-5500.