Trader Joe’s recalls 6th food item in the span of 3 months

Less than a week after Trader Joe’s recalled multigrain crackers for possible traces of metal, the California-based grocery chain has recalled another item.

Trader Joe’s announced a recall on its Texas Tamale Company Gourmet Black Bean Tamales on Aug. 22 due to possible “undeclared milk” found in the product.

Californians should be in the clear since the product was only sold at stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. No illnesses have yet been reported, according to a statement by Trader Joe’s.  

“If you purchased Texas Tamale Company Gourmet Black Bean Tamales, please do not eat them. We urge you to discard the product or return it to any Trader Joe’s for a full refund,”  Trader Joe’s said in the statement.

The recall is one of six that have been issued over the last few months. Before the multigrain crackers were recalled for the risk of metal on Aug. 17, the grocery chain issued a recall less than a month earlier for falafel that potentially contained rocks. Meanwhile, the same frozen fruit product was recalled twice this year: for a risk of Hepatitis A contamination in March and later for listeria concerns in June.

The series of recalls doesn’t mean you should quit Trader Joe’s altogether. According to Time, recalls are simply precautionary measures grocery stores and other food companies take and they’re not always linked to illness.

“You want things recalled before anybody dies,” Jaydee Hanson, policy director at the Center for Food Safety, told Time. “You want things recalled, ideally, before anybody’s sick. If companies think that the FDA and the USDA are looking over their shoulder, they’re going to do a better job.”