Food recalls tied to allergens often turn on packaging and labeling mistakes rather than a flaw in the food itself. That is the case in the latest soup pull involving Whole Foods Market Kitchen Minestrone Soup, which was recalled after a cup was found to contain the wrong product.
Kettle Cuisine recalled a specific lot of Whole Foods Market soup
Kettle Cuisine of Lynn, Massachusetts, announced on May 21, 2026, that it was recalling 24-ounce cups of Whole Foods Market Kitchen Minestrone Soup because the product may contain undeclared shrimp, according to the company announcement posted by the FDA. The issue was not described as a recipe defect or contamination event tied to the intended minestrone formula. Instead, the FDA notice said the recall began after an in-store discovery that a single cup contained the incorrect soup.
The recalled item was sold as Whole Foods Market Kitchen Minestrone Soup in a 24-ounce clear plastic cup. The lot code was 1762181 with a Use By date of 05/27/26 printed on the top rim, and the UPC identifier on the back label was 099482502065, according to the FDA posting. No other soups or use-by codes were included in the recall notice.
The FDA posting identified the hazard as undeclared shrimp, which matters because shrimp is a major crustacean shellfish allergen. The agency notice said no illnesses had been reported as of the May 21 announcement. The public recall notice did not list an FDA enforcement recall number, and no classified recall number was confirmed in the materials reviewed for this article.
The distribution footprint reached 18 states and Washington, D.C.
According to the FDA notice, the recalled soup cups were distributed to Whole Foods retail stores in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The notice also said the product was sold nationwide through online sales on the Whole Foods and Amazon websites, which means consumers outside those store states may also have received it through e-commerce fulfillment.
What is confirmed is the state-by-state retail distribution list in the FDA notice and the online sales component. What is not publicly detailed in that same notice is a comprehensive list of individual store locations, city-by-city placements, or the number of units sent to each state. Whole Foods and Kettle Cuisine had not released a full public breakdown of affected stores in each market in the source material reviewed.
For shoppers, the practical guidance in the FDA notice was specific: consumers who purchased the affected soup were advised to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. The company also provided a consumer contact number in the recall announcement for additional questions, indicating the removal was being handled as a targeted lot-specific recall rather than a broader category withdrawal.
The recall was tied to an incorrect fill and allergen labeling risk
The central reason for the recall was a packaging or fill error, not a reformulation. In the FDA-posted company announcement, Kettle Cuisine said the recall was initiated after it was discovered in-store that a single cup of soup contained the incorrect product, and that the soup in the cup contained shrimp. That means the problem was the mismatch between the product in the container and the label on the container.
That distinction is important in allergen recalls. FDA recall guidance explains that recall notices typically identify the product name, package size, UPC, lot or date code, and consumer instructions so shoppers can isolate the affected product rather than assume an entire category is unsafe. In this case, the official notice limited the issue to one lot code and one use-by date.
For customers, the takeaway is narrow but important: this recall applies to a defined 24-ounce Whole Foods Market Kitchen Minestrone Soup lot and not to all minestrone soup or all Whole Foods prepared soup items. As of the FDA-posted announcement, no illnesses had been reported, and the company’s stated remedy remained a return to the place of purchase for a refund.