Chocolate Recall As Dire Warning Issued

Chuao Chocolatier has issued a voluntary recall for “a single production” of its Potato Chip mini bar .39oz/11 gram due to fears some could contain undeclared hazelnut, which risks a “life-threatening allergic reaction” from some people.

On Friday, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which helped coordinate the recall, published the announcement on its official website.

The recall only applies to the Chuao Chocolatier Potato Chip mini chocolate bar (.39 oz. bar) with lot code 4022. These were sold in stores across the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii, and online. The affected products have item UPC 872629006615 and a best by date of 22 February 2025.

According to the FDA, the recall was issued after “it was discovered hazelnuts were inadvertently added to the product during manufacturing.” Whilst the packaging does say the product was “manufactured in a facility that uses tree nuts and wheat on shared equipment,” it doesn’t explicitly reference the presence of hazelnuts.

The FDA warns: “People who are sensitive or have allergies to hazelnut could be at risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product.”

According to the agency, one customer reported suffering from a mild allergic reaction after consuming the product.

An investigation found hazelnuts got into the product due to a shared piece of equipment being cross-contaminated.

Anyone with hazelnut allergies is urged to immediately discard the product and not eat it.

The packaging has a white background except for yellow strips at the bottom and the top, where the Chuao Chocolatier logo is also situated. It depicts a bowl full of chocolate potato chips with some of the chocolate overflowing over the edges.

In text, the product is described as “crisp kettle cooked potato chips and a hint of sea salt mix and mingle in mild chocolate.”

Chuao Chocolatier can be contacted for additional support via (760) 814-6230 or support@chuaochocolatier.com.

The company’s customer relations experts are present from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST. The customer service line is open for 24 hours a day. No other Chuao Chocolatier products are impacted by the recall.

Newsweek contacted Chuao Chocolatier by email and online inquiry form at 6 a.m. ET on Saturday. This article will be updated if it decides to comment.

Separately, on May 1, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recalled a number of ground beef products produced by Cargill Meat Solutions, Pennsylvania due to fears about possible E.coli contamination.

The recall affected 11 states in the mid-Atlantic and New England regions along with the District of Columbia.

The FSIS also issued a recall order for a raw pork chorizo product produced by the San Antonio Packing Company, part of Apco Brand Meats. This took place after a customer claimed they found pieces of metal and hard plastic inside one of these products.

In January and February, over 2,000 baby products were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports after they failed to meet safety standards.

The items, which had an estimated value of nearly $80,000, were contained within four separate shipments sent from China.