Ritz Crackers Recalled After Potentially Deadly Mistake
Coffee lovers, take notice.
Dollar General Corporation issued a recall of the eight-ounce packages of Clover Valley instant coffee because of the potential presence of glass fragments, per an August 12 announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The report noted that Clover Valley is sold in all 48 states in the continental United States, but not in Hawaii or Alaska.
“Dollar General is actively investigating the source of the glass contamination,” the company said in a statement, “and apologizes for any inconvenience caused by this product issue.”
Dollar General said that three separate lots of the instant coffee, which has a 876941004069 UPC, were affected: Lots L-5163 (best by date Dec. 13, 2026), L-5164 (best by date Dec. 13, 2026) and L-5165 (best by date Dec. 14, 2026). The company shared that lot numbers and best by dates can be found around the neck of the instant coffee units.
The recall was initiated after the potential issue was flagged to Dollar General employees by a concerned customer, the FDA report revealed, while also noting that no injuries or illnesses relating to the concern have been reported thus far.
The FDA warned that “ingesting glass fragments may cause injury to the consumer, and these injuries may include damage to teeth, laceration of the mouth and throat, or perforation of the intestine.”
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Dollar General’s Clover Valley recall comes in the wake of several other high-profile food and drink recalls, including one of Celsius energy drinks and another of RITZ cracker sandwiches.
The RITZ recall in July came after potentially life-threatening labeling error meant that individually wrapped packs of the brand’s cracker sandwiches labeled as the cheese variety may have in fact been of the peanut butter variety.
As Mondelez Global LLC, the company that owns RITZ, said in a statement last month, “People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to peanuts may risk serious or life-threatening allergic reactions by consuming this product.”
Keep reading for more recent food recalls…
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But First, Maybe Not Coffee
New Mexico Piñon Coffee became among brands to issue a serious recall of its products in July 2025 when officials recalled its dark roast 10-pack K-cup pods, citing that ink on the packaging could leak onto the brewed coffee. However, the company noted no other product had been affected from the mishap.
“Customers that have purchased these products,” the brand wrote in a press release at the time, “are asked to either throw away or return the product.”
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Energy or Alcohol?
In July 2025, the FDA recalled “two production lots” worth of Celsius’ ASTRO VIBE™ Energy Drink, Sparkling Blue Razz Edition, noting they were actually the hard seltzers High Noon that were mislabeled as the non-alcoholic drink.
The company added in its statement, “the recall was initiated after High Noon discovered that a shared packaging supplier mistakenly shipped empty CELSIUS cans to High Noon.”
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The Case of the Mislabeled Ritz
Ritz Crackers quickly recalled a mislabeled package of peanut butter crackers in July 2025, with the FDA warning that it could be life-threatening for some individuals who purchased their 8-pack, 20-pack and 40-pack cartons of RITZ Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches, well as the 20-pack RITZ Filled Cracker Sandwich Variety Pack carton.
“People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to peanuts may risk serious or life-threatening allergic reactions by consuming this product,” the FDA statement read at the time. “All outer cartons affected are labeled correctly and provide an allergen advisory statement indicating that the product ‘contains peanuts.’”
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Be Careful, Starbucks Lovers
Starbucks’ signature Frappuccino bottles were pulled from grocery store shelves back in 2023 after the company warned that around 25,000 cases, or 300,000 individual bottles, may have included traces of broken glass. The recall included Vanilla-flavored bottles that were marked with expiration dates from March to June 2023.
At the time, a Starbucks representative told NPR, “The removal of these products from the marketplace is currently underway.”
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Not-So-Lucky Charms
Back in 2022, General Mills dived into the mystery of why over 3,000 Lucky Charms customers reported they experienced minor-to-serious gastrointestinal issues after ingesting the cereal.
“Food safety is our top priority,” the brand wrote on social media at the time. “We take your concerns very seriously.”
However, the brand noted it must have been a lousy leprechaun trick.
“Through our continuing internal investigations,” their statement continued, “we have not found any evidence of consumer illness linked to the consumption of Lucky Charms.”
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Keep Those Buns Out of The Oven
Bimbo Bakeries, the owner of Sara Lee and Nature’s Harvest breads, recalled a slew of their products in 2015 after a lightbulb shattered in their factory, which affected around 48,000 packaged products, the company said in a statement at the time.
The recall was made after one consumer found bits of glass particles on the outside of their bread package, the company said in a statement at the time, and it affected bread sent to 11 states including Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina.
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