Read This If You Recently Bought Dairy-Free Blueberry Yogurt From Whole Foods
Lavva offers dairy-free yogurt made from the Pili nut — which it calls the lowest carb nut in the world — along with coconut and cassava. The resulting yogurt offers all the probiotic benefits of dairy-based yogurt, without all of the dairy and added sugar. Unfortunately, while eating Lavva yogurt may give you the benefit of removing some of these unwanted ingredients from your breakfast routine, a recent batch of the brand's blueberry yogurt might be adding something even more unwanted: mold. On January 11, the FDA published a voluntary recall for Lavva-brand, blueberry, plant-based yogurt, related to fears that a recent batch of the yogurt was contaminated.
While there have yet to be any reported illnesses linked to the potential mold contamination and the recall only applies to a single batch of yogurt, it's still smart to be safe and, if you've recently bought any dairy-free blueberry yogurt from one of Lavva's retail partners, check to ensure the yogurt in your fridge isn't impacted.
What to look for and who to contact
A range of nationwide and regional retailers, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger, and more localized natural food stores, sell Lavva products and may have sold some of the impacted yogurt. If you have some Lavva Blueberry Plant-Based Yogurt in your fridge, specifically the 5.3-ounce size, you will want to check the expiration date and SKU on the plastic cup's foil lid, says the company's release on the FDA website. The impacted batch of yogurt is clearly marked with a 2/21/21 expiration date and a SKU number of #022121.
If your yogurt matches this description, Lavva urges you not to eat it; instead, you can return it to your grocery store for a full refund. You can also contact Lavva directly to learn more about the recall, via email at hello@lovvelavva.com or phone by calling 833-885-2882 during normal business hours, Eastern Standard Time.
Is mold contamination really that much of a worry?
Think that mold on your food really isn't that dangerous? That you've eaten cheese after scraping some mold off one side, or accidentally consumed some bread that had a bit of mold in the bag, and you're totally fine?
While no one has yet to experience any illness from the recalled Lavva yogurt, according to the brand, mold contamination in food is still a serious issue. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection service notes that some molds can cause serious allergic reactions and, even when you scrape mold off a piece of food, the mold root threads may have already spread throughout the item. In fact, the USDA recommends some pretty harsh measures for after finding moldy food in your home, including not breathing around the mold (to prevent any resulting respiratory issues), wrapping the item before tossing to prevent further contamination, cleaning wherever the item was stored, and then checking all other nearby items for additional contamination.
In other words, it's much better to be safe than sorry when dealing with mold of any kind, so, if you come across some of this Lavva yogurt in your fridge, leave it unopened and either take it back to the store for a refund or toss it.