Once Upon a Farm Recalls Toddler Bars After FDA Warns of Potentially Fatal Choking Risk

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday warned parents not to buy or serve a toddler snack sold across the country, saying the bars can block a small child's airway in a way that standard first aid may not clear. The maker, Once Upon a Farm, recalled the product the same day.

The warning covers every version of the company's Tractor Wheels Organic Toddler Soft-Baked Bars: all flavors, all package sizes, all lot codes and all expiration dates. The wheel-shaped bars, made with whole grain oats and fruit and vegetable purees, are marketed for toddlers and sold in grocery stores and big retailers nationwide.

What the FDA found

The agency said it has received several reports describing toddlers between 1.5 and 2.5 years old who suffered complete airway obstruction and could not breathe after eating the bars. When chewed, the product reportedly forms a dry, sticky mass. The FDA said that mass may not come loose with back blows or the Heimlich maneuver, the standard first responses when a child is choking. Some of the reported incidents needed emergency responders, and some children were kept in hospital for observation.

The FDA said it told the company about the adverse event reports and recommended a recall, and the company agreed to start one. The agency told consumers to throw the bars away and not serve them, and it advised anyone whose child is choking and cannot be cleared with first aid to call 911.

The FDA advisory is broader than most food recalls. A typical recall names specific lots made on specific dates. This one names none, because the reported problem is the texture of the bar itself when a toddler chews it, not contamination in a single batch. That is why the advice covers bars already sitting in kitchen cupboards as well as bars still on store shelves.

The recall

Once Upon a Farm said it based the voluntary recall on three consumer complaints and acted out of an abundance of caution. The recalled flavors are Apple, Sweet Potato and Spinach; Strawberry, Pumpkin and Beet; and Banana, Pumpkin and Cauliflower. The Berkeley, California company said it is working with the FDA to get the bars off shelves and will reformulate the product. No other Once Upon a Farm products are part of the recall.

Parents who bought Tractor Wheels can return them to the store where they bought them for a full refund, or contact the company at [email protected]. The FDA said it will keep updating its advisory as more information comes in, and parents can report illnesses or adverse events through the agency.