Dangers Lurking in Sweets and Treats – Numerous recalls on popular holiday season foods

December 8, 2025

It’s the most wonderful time of year…for snacks! Bring on the cheese boards, bowls of munchies, delicious dips, and yummy finger foods that pair with cocktails, wine, sparkling punch, and eggnog. Dessert tables overflow with cookies, pies, and candy. Grocery store aisles are lined with festive displays of holiday goodies.

In this busy season, both party hosts and guests bringing treats to share often rely on packaged foods.

But this month, it’s important for consumers to be aware that a number of popular holiday food products have been recalled due to dangerous contaminants or undeclared allergens — some that could cause life-threatening reactions in sensitive individuals.

Recalled Sweets

Aldi, the popular German-based discount grocery chain, offers a dizzying array of seasonal treats, including fancy chocolates and European baked goods. But two favorites are currently recalled because of a packaging mixup that led to serious mislabeling:

Shoppers initially discovered that packages of Choceur Cookie Butter Holiday Bark actually contained Choceur Pecan, Cranberry & Cinnamon Holiday Bark – and vice versa. This accidental swap means that the Cookie Butter Holiday Bark contains undeclared pecans, while the Pecan, Cranberry & Cinnamon Bark contains undeclared wheat.

Choceur Cookie Butter Holiday Bark is sold in 5-ounce stand-up pouches. Lot number 29225 with a best-by date of 05/2026 (both printed on the package), is under urgent recall. Choceur Pecan, Cranberry & Cinnamon Holiday Bark comes in similar 5-ounce stand-up pouches. The recall was issued for Lot number 29225, with a best-by date of 08/2026.

According to a press release by Aldi, the affected products, made by Silvestri Sweets Inc., were distributed and sold at Aldi stores in 25 states, including California. Customers are urged to discard the product immediately or return it to the store for a refund.

Both wheat and tree nuts (including pecans) fall under the FDA’s classification of major allergens. In addition to tree nuts and wheat, the “Big 9” include milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish (shrimp, lobster, crab), peanuts,  soybeans, and sesame.

Collectively, these ingredients are responsible for 90% of allergic reactions, which can be severe or even fatal in hypersensitive individuals.

Last month, Aldi also recalled Dairyfine Crispy Choc Um’s (candy similar to M&Ms) over concerns about another undeclared allergen: peanuts.

Thanksgiving week, USA Today reported that Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream had voluntarily recalled one batch of its Passion Fruit Dreamsicle ice cream bars, which may contain undeclared wheat and soy. A crunch topping containing the allergens was accidentally introduced to the specific batch. Sold in grocery stores nationwide, the recalled batch is code 25-210, printed on top of the carton. The company emphasizes that no other Jeni’s products are affected. Jeni’s advises customers to return any impacted product to the store where purchased for a refund.

Recalled Cheese & Related Products

On December 3rd, the Los Angeles Times reported a “massive recall” of exactly the type of shredded cheese you might use to make a creamy, hot holiday party dip.

Due to possible metal fragment contamination, over 260,000 cases — more than 1.5 million bags — of various shredded cheeses produced by the Ohio-based Great Lakes Cheese Co. an Ohio-based company, are being pulled from the shelves of many major retailers (Target, Walmart, Aldi, and others) nationwide, including in California.

Bags of shredded mozzarella, Italian cheese blends, cheddar, provolone, and parmesan blends, and more, sold under dozens of popular brand names, are impacted. The LA Times provided an overview; details are available on the FDA website.

Just a week earlier, The Ambriola Company, a third-party manufacturer that distributes products under brands including Locatelli and Boar’s Head, recalled cheese due to concerns about Listeria contamination. November 24th, the FDA issued a recall notice for some Ambriola pecorino romano cheese products sold under the Boar’s Head label. Also recalled is an Ambriola pecorino romano grated cheese item sold under the Locatelli brand, sold at major retailers including Sprouts, Wegmans, and Big Y. The recall impacts not just the cheese itself, but a variety of packaged products that contain it. Detailed product codes and sell-by dates are available at the FDA website.

Aitken * Aitken * Cohn has extensive experience representing victims of foodborne illness across Orange County. The firm successfully handled the 2007 Souplantation outbreak in Lake Forest, advocating for 15 consumers who suffered severe food poisoning, and later represented multiple clients hospitalized after a 2014 Shigellosis outbreak linked to True Food Kitchen.

Today, the firm is again at the forefront of food safety litigation, representing a young boy who suffered salmonella poisoning after consuming Raw Farms raw milk purchased from Jimbo’s Natural Foods in Carlsbad. Following statewide reports of contamination, the California Department of Public Health issued a recall of Raw Farms products.

Written on behalf of Aitken* Aitken* Cohn