A recall of dry milk powder over Salmonella concerns has expanded to snack mixes, potato chips and seasonings from four more companies, according to a food safety alert published on November 1, 2026, by Mesa County Public Health in Colorado. The newly listed products all contain milk powder connected to California Dairies' recall of dry milk powder, and the companies say no illnesses have been reported in connection with any of their products.
The expansion is a reminder of how a single contaminated ingredient can spread through the food system: one supplier's dry milk powder, used as a seasoning or coating ingredient, can end up in trail mix, flavoured chips, pork rinds and topping products sold under different brand names in different parts of the country. Consumers are being told to check their pantries for the specific products and best-by dates listed below, and to throw the recalled items out or return them to the place of purchase rather than eating them.
Mesa County Public Health published its food safety alert on November 1, 2026, at 00:31 Mountain Time, listing additional companies recalling products connected to California Dairies' recall of dry milk powder. The original recall was issued because of Salmonella concerns about the milk powder itself. Dry milk powder is a common ingredient in savoury coatings and seasonings, which is why a problem with one ingredient can trigger recalls across product categories that look unrelated on a supermarket shelf: a trail mix, a bag of chips and a jar of seasoning can all carry the same milk powder in their flavour coatings.
The alert lists the newly recalled products by company, product name, size and best-by date, and directs consumers to the Food and Drug Administration website for the full list. Mesa County's role, as the alert explains, is to share recall information when it becomes aware of a recalled product that could have been distributed in the county, so that the warning reaches as many people as possible. The county is not the recalling company, and it is not the regulator; it is passing on information from the companies and the FDA system so that shoppers in its area — and, through the alert's publication online, shoppers elsewhere — can check their cupboards.
For shoppers, the practical question is simple: do I have one of these exact products, with one of these best-by dates? If the answer is yes, the advice is equally simple: do not eat it. Throw it out, or return it to the place of purchase. The alert does not say to return recalled food to a manufacturer by post, and it does not say to rinse or cook the product to make it safe. Salmonella in a dry, shelf-stable snack is not removed by a quick wash, and the official advice for recalled products is disposal or return.
Salmonella is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the United States, infecting about 1.35 million people a year, according to figures cited in recent recall reporting. Most people recover without treatment, but the infection can be serious — and sometimes deadly — for young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems, and in rare cases it can spread from the gut into the bloodstream. Symptoms typically include fever, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, beginning six hours to six days after infection and lasting four to seven days, according to Mesa County's alert.
Dry milk powder recalls follow a familiar pattern in food safety. A bulk ingredient is produced or stored in a way that allows contamination, it is shipped to multiple manufacturers, and those manufacturers use it in different finished products over weeks or months. Because the ingredient is dry and shelf-stable, the finished products can remain in pantries for a long time — some of the best-by dates in this expansion run into 2027 — which is why recalls are announced long after the ingredient was made, and why checking best-by dates matters more than checking a purchase date. A bag of trail mix bought months ago can still be part of a recall announced today.
This expansion also sits in a busy year for Salmonella-related recalls. Recent months have seen recalls linked to jalapeños and fresh produce, to eggs, and to a supplement, among others, and the dry milk powder case is the latest example of an ingredient-level problem rather than a single-brand problem. That distinction matters for consumers: when the problem is an ingredient, looking only for one brand name is not enough. The same ingredient can appear under a store brand, a regional chip brand and a snack-mix brand at the same time, as this alert shows.
John B. Sanfilippo & Son's recalled snack mix products are: 30 oz. Fisher Tex Mex Trail Mix, best by August 6, 2027; 23 oz. Southern Style Nuts Gourmet Hunter Mix, best by January 28, February 5, February 12, February 17, March 3 and March 14, 2027; 16 oz. Squirrel Brand Travelers Mix, best by April 30, May 28 and June 24, 2027; and 8 oz. Good & Gather Mexican Street Corn Trail Mix, best by March 23, 2027. Consumers should check the FDA website for the company's full list, as the county alert notes.
Pork King Good's recalled product is 3 oz. Sour Cream & Onion Seasoning, best by May 30 and June 30, 2027. Utz Quality Foods' recalled products are 1.5 oz. Zapp's Brand Bayou Blackened Ranch Potato Chips, best by August 3, August 10, August 17 and August 24, 2026, and 2 oz. Dirty Brand Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips, best by August 3 and August 10, 2026. JCB Flavors' recalled product is 1.6 oz. Popping Topping — Sour Cream and Onion, best by May 18, 2027. In each case, only the listed sizes and dates are part of the recall as described in the alert; other sizes, flavours and dates from the same brands are not listed, and shoppers who are unsure should check the FDA list or contact the retailer.
One detail worth noting is the range of best-by dates. The Utz chip dates fall in August 2026, which means some of those bags may already have been eaten or thrown away — but a bag still in a pantry, past its best-by date or not, should still be discarded if it matches the recall. The trail mix and seasoning dates run well into 2027, which means those products may still be on shelves and in cupboards for months. That long tail is exactly why ingredient recalls are announced publicly rather than handled quietly through retailers alone.
The companies involved have said no illnesses have been reported in connection with any of their products, and that they initiated the recalls out of an abundance of caution, according to Mesa County's alert. That phrasing is standard in voluntary recalls, and it carries a specific meaning: the companies are acting before illnesses are confirmed, because the ingredient has been linked to a contamination concern, not because they have evidence that their finished products have made anyone sick. It is a precaution, but it is not a reason to ignore the recall. Recalls issued out of caution are still recalls, and the advice — throw it out or return it — is the same.
Mesa County Public Health's advice to consumers is direct: check pantries for the recalled products and throw them out or return them to the place of purchase, and contact a doctor right away if symptoms develop after consuming the recalled products. No statement from California Dairies, the original dry milk powder supplier, was included in the county alert, and no statement from the FDA beyond the referral to its website was included either. This article does not invent statements from any company or regulator; where a company has spoken, through the alert, its position is reported as given.
The expansion matters because it shows how a food safety problem can hide in plain sight. A shopper who heard about a dry milk powder recall might reasonably think it does not affect them — they do not buy dry milk powder. But the same ingredient, used as a seasoning, can be in the trail mix in their hiking bag, the chips in their lunchbox, or the topping in their kitchen cupboard. The only way to know is to check the specific products and dates, which is why this article lists them in full rather than summarising them as "various snacks".
It also matters for the people most at risk. For most healthy adults, a Salmonella infection is unpleasant but self-limiting. For a young child, an older person, or someone whose immune system is weakened by illness or treatment, it can lead to hospitalisation and, in rare cases, a bloodstream infection. Those are the households where a pantry check is most urgent, and where a "best by" date in 2027 should not be read as a guarantee of safety. A long shelf life does not protect a product from an ingredient recall.
Consumers should check the products listed above against what is in their pantries, discard or return any matches, and watch for symptoms if they have already eaten a recalled product. Anyone who develops fever, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain after eating one of the listed products should contact a doctor right away, as Mesa County advises, and should tell the doctor about the recalled product. Retailers will normally refund returned recalled products, and shoppers should keep a receipt or a photograph of the product and its best-by date if they need to make a return.
Further expansions are possible. Ingredient recalls often grow as investigators trace the milk powder to more manufacturers and more finished products, and the FDA list referenced in the county alert is the place to check for updates. If more brands are added, they will be added to that list first. Until then, the products and dates in this article are the ones consumers need to check, and the advice remains the same for every one of them: do not eat it, throw it out or take it back.
Trail mixes from John B. Sanfilippo & Son (Fisher, Southern Style Nuts, Squirrel Brand and Good & Gather), Pork King Good Sour Cream & Onion Seasoning, Utz Zapp's and Dirty potato chips, and JCB Flavors Popping Topping — all containing dry milk powder linked to California Dairies' recall.
No illnesses have been reported in connection with any of the newly listed products, according to the companies, which say the recalls were started out of an abundance of caution.
Throw it out or return it to the place of purchase. Do not eat it, and do not try to wash or cook it to make it safe. Contact a doctor right away if symptoms develop after eating it.
Fever, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, usually beginning six hours to six days after infection and lasting four to seven days. Young children, older people and people with weakened immune systems face the greatest risk of serious infection.
Mesa County Public Health directs consumers to the FDA website for the full list of recalled products, as the county alert covers the newly added companies and products summarised here.
Related coverage: Whole Foods ashwagandha recall: Salmonella risk hits 365 capsules nationwide; Wise Wife cinnamon recall: FDA pulls ground cinnamon in 14 states over lead; Once Upon a Farm recall: FDA warns toddler snack bars are choking hazard.
Sources: Mesa County Public Health food safety alert, November 1, 2026; FDA recall information as referenced in that alert.
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