Hot Sauce Recall as Life-Threatening Warning Issued

Several type of hot sauces were recalled on Tuesday morning over concerns for consumers who have a wheat allergy.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an announcement this week for a recall of several lots of hot sauce produced by Vesta Fiery Gourmet Foods, Inc., of Raleigh, North Carolina.

The recall includes the company’s Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Ghost 1.5oz glass jar; Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Hot 1.5oz glass jar; Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Reaper 1.5oz glass jar; Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Scorpion 1.5oz glass jar; and Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Very Hot 1.5oz glass jar, “because these products contain undeclared wheat,” according to the FDA.

“People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products,” the agency said.

The recall this week comes amid a series of food recalls issued by the FDA in the last few weeks. On Monday, Newsweek published a map of different food recalls announced by the agency since the end of December, which included an array of products, such as kimchi and soybean sprouts.

In the announcement on Tuesday, the FDA said that Vesta Fiery Gourmet Foods, Inc., was notified by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture on January 4 that the labels for their hot sauces did not “state the flour used is a wheat flour.”

According to the FDA, no illnesses have been reported to date in relation to the recalled products.

“The products were distributed between October 1, 2023 — January 4, 2024. These products were packaged in glass jars and sold primarily online, in retail stores & deli cases located throughout the United States,” the agency said.

A spokesperson for Vesta Fiery Gourmet Foods, Inc., told Newsweek that the recall will be simple and require new packaging for the recalled hot sauces that states they include wheat.

“Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them or they may discard the product,” the FDA said.

The map previously published by Newsweek shows different states that were affected by recent food recalls, including New York, New Jersey, Florida, California, Virginia and Texas. In Florida, Texas and California, the FDA issued a recall for 14-ounce packages of Melissa’s Kimchi over concerns that it contained fish and did not state so on its label. In Virginia, the FDA announced a recall for soybean sprouts due to possible contamination by Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria that can cause infections in children.