Aldi Salad Dressing Recalled Over Botulism Risk: All The Details

Some poppy seed dressing sold at Aldi stores under the company's Simply Nature Organic brand has been recalled over a processing issue that may pave the way for botulism. The big issue is the potential for bacteria to grow in the bottles of poppy seed dressing, including, potentially, a type of bacteria that produces the toxin behind botulism.

Botulism is a serious, possibly deadly illness that results from consuming the toxins from bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. The illness is rare due to careful food processing and the specific conditions required for the bacteria to grow, including one that has little or no oxygen combined with low salt, sugar, and acid levels, among other things.

Fermented foods and food canned at home are two ways someone may be exposed to the toxins, assuming the canning or fermentation process didn't occur correctly. Every so often, however, we see a recall pop up involving canned or bottled products sold at stores that may not have been processed correctly, leaving the potential for bacteria growth and botulism toxin.

The latest of these recalls comes from Drew's Organics LLC, which is recalling a single lot code of Simply Nature Organic Poppy Seed Dressing sold at some Aldi stores across the US. Impacted states span from one coast to the other, including California, Texas, New York, various New England and Midwestern states, and others. Fortunately, the company hadn't received any reports of illness resulting from the recalled poppy dressing.

Consumers who may have purchased one of these recalled products, which were sold in 12 fluid ounce glass bottles with a Best If Used By date of February 15, 2023, are advised not to consume them and either return them to the store for a refund or throw them away uneaten.