Chobani announced that it is issuing a recall of some of its Greek yogurt cups that were affected by mold after some customers reported claims of illnesses.
The recall comes about a week after the company first started asking retailers to pull the products from shelves, saying some cups were "swelling and bloating." Other customers made online complaints. One wrote that her yogurt was "unnervingly fizzy" and another said it tasted like "wine."
Chobani had previously tried to avoid issuing a formal recall, reports the AP.
The yogurt company, which is based in New Berlin, NY, said that most of the affected products came from its Idaho facility and have already been pulled from shelves. According to the company, less than 5 percent of its total production has been affected. The containers are marked with the code 16-012 and expiration dates Sept. 11 to Oct. 7.
In an interview, Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya said it was the company's decision to move to a recall, not the FDA's. He said the problem was caused by a type of mold that is commonly found in dairy environments. The issue has been "totally fixed," he said, noting that the mold became a problem because Chobani doesn't use preservatives in its products.
"Everybody in the company took this hard," Ulukaya said. "It shook us up."
On Friday, the yogurt maker assured customers that the mold in some of its Greek yogurt cups is not associated with food-borne illnesses like salmonella or E. coli.
The company identified the mold as Mucor circinelloides, a common species that usually affects fruits, vegetables and other plants. It has also been linked to previous cases of spoiled yogurt, reports USA Today.
The affected products include a number of different size containers:
- Chobani 6 ounce cups
- Chobani 16 ounce tubs
- Chobani 32 ounce tubs
- Chobani 3.5 ounce cups
- Chobani Bite 3.5 ounce cups
- Chobani Flip 5.3 ounce containers
- Chobani Champions 3.5 ounce cups
- Chobani Champions 2.25 ounce tubes
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