Most shoppers do not expect something as simple as a bakery roll to carry a safety risk.
But food recalls can sometimes involve products consumers never see in their original packaging.
This is especially true of products, which are shipped in bulk to grocery-store bakeries, restaurants, or other food-service businesses before being prepared and sold.
That is the case with a new recall involving General Mills and one of the country’s biggest retailers.
General Mills has recalled more than 735,000 Pillsbury bread rolls because they may contain foreign material, including glass, according to two U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforcement reports.
The affected frozen dough was supplied to Walmart in-store bakeries, where it was baked before being sold to shoppers.
Pillsbury recall covers more than 735,000 rolls
The recall covers two Pillsbury frozen bread dough products manufactured by General Mills.
The first involves Pillsbury Bread Rolls Hard Roll Dough.
General Mills recalled 3,080 cases, each containing 180 rolls, for a total of approximately 554,400 rolls.
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The affected Hard Roll Dough includes:
- Lot 11JUN6JL with a “Better if Used By” date of Oct. 12, 2026
- Lot 12JUN6JL with a “Better if Used By” date of Oct. 13, 2026
- Recall number H-1154-2026
A second recall covers Pillsbury Bread Rolls, Kaiser Roll Dough.
General Mills recalled 1,260 cases containing 144 rolls each, or approximately 181,440 rolls.
Combined, the two recalls cover approximately 735,840 bread rolls.
The FDA lists the reason for both recalls as the potential presence of foreign material, specifically glass.
General Mills initiated the voluntary recalls on June 19, and the FDA recently classified them as Class II recalls on July 13.
A Class II recall means use of or exposure to the affected product could cause temporary or medically reversible health consequences, while the probability of serious health consequences is considered remote.
Recalled Pillsbury rolls were sold through Walmart bakeries
The recalled products differ from many grocery recalls because shoppers would not necessarily have purchased a package labeled with the affected lot numbers.
General Mills said the frozen dough products were baked onsite and sold exclusively through Walmart in-store bakeries in the United States, Allrecipes reported.
The company described the recall as limited and highly contained and said all potentially affected products had been removed.
The recalled dough was distributed across 19 states:
Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
Because the identifying information appears on the bulk cases used by bakery operations, customers who purchased fresh rolls from a Walmart bakery may not have access to the original lot or product codes.
Consumers concerned about the bakery rolls they purchased can contact the store where they were purchased or General Mills for additional information.
Foreign objects such as glass can pose an injury risk if swallowed, including cuts or damage to the mouth, throat, or digestive tract.
General Mills recall comes amid challenging year
The recall arrives as General Mills is trying to strengthen sales across its large portfolio of food brands.
The company owns or operates brands including Pillsbury, Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley, and Blue Buffalo.
General Mills reported fiscal fourth-quarter net sales of $4.6 billion, up 1% from a year earlier, while organic net sales were flat.
For the full fiscal year, however, net sales fell 5% to $18.4 billion and organic net sales declined 2%.
The pressure was especially visible in the company’s North America Retail business, which includes many of the packaged-food brands familiar to U.S. shoppers.
Fourth-quarter North America Retail sales fell 4% to approximately $2.5 billion.
General Mills said lower volumes and higher input costs weighed on full-year North America Retail operating profit, which fell 20%.
The company is now trying to restore growth by investing more heavily in product innovation, brand marketing, consumer value, and efficiency.
The company is targeting $3 billion in cumulative cost savings by fiscal 2030, including at least $750 million in fiscal 2027.
At a time of challenging retail behavior, the recall increases the risk of a decline in customer trust, as seen in the recent iceberg lettuce recall and its link (later termed a false negative by the FDA) to Taco Bell.
Which consequently is said to have impacted in-store traffic, TheStreet reported.
Meanwhile, as the recalled dough was baked and sold through Walmart stores rather than packaged for consumers under the recalled case labels, shoppers in the affected states may want to pay closer attention to where and when they purchased bakery rolls.
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