Why This Beloved Trader Joe's Frozen Pizza Has Just Been Issued A Health Alert

Trader Joe's is urging customers in California to check their freezers. The grocery store chain issued a health alert for its popular Uncured Pepperoni Pizza on August 29th, 2025. But if you've accidentally eaten one of the impacted pizzas, there's no need to panic. They aren't contaminated with radiation, like certain brands of frozen shrimp. The pizzas, which were imported from Italy, simply skipped an inspection on their trip to the United States.

Trader Joe's issued the alert after being notified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which released a statement about the action on the 29th. "(FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for a frozen not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) uncured pepperoni pizza product imported from Italy that did not receive the benefit of import reinspection," wrote the agency. According to a Trader Joe's press release, the slip-up was due to a paperwork error.

Technically, this isn't a recall. When a product is recalled for one of many common reasons, that means it's being pulled from store shelves, thought the FSIS statement noted that the product is no longer available for purchase. So while employees won't be rushing to strip the pizzas from store shelves, the health alert means that customers should keep an eye out for frozen pizzas that they might've purchased in the past. After all, frozen pizzas can cause serious health problems if safety standards aren't up to par.

The pizzas already passed one set of inspections, and there have been no confirmed reports of illness. Still, FSIS and Trader Joe's told customers to ditch any pizzas affected by the alert. The pizzas in question were sold at over 60 stores in Southern California; customers should check boxes of the not-ready-to-eat frozen pizzas for the SKU number 79898 and best-by dates of 8/16/26 and 8/21/26.

If you purchased any of the pizzas affected by the alert, FSIS recommends discarding them or returning them to the store for a full refund. On the off-chance that you do need to report an illness, contact FSIS.

Trader Joe's urges concerned customers to contact customer relations at (626) 599-3817, which is available Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, or via email. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience," added the brand.