Federal health officials are warning parents across the United States not to buy or serve a popular organic toddler snack after reports that the bars can turn into a dense, sticky mass in a small child's mouth and completely block the airway. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its alert on Friday, October 30, and published the formal recall notice on Monday, November 2 — one day before Election Day — covering every lot and every variety of Tractor Wheels Organic Toddler Soft-Baked Bars made by Once Upon a Farm, a company based in Berkeley, California.

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall notice, published November 2, 2026

The FDA said it had received reports of children between 18 months and two and a half years old suffering complete airway obstruction — unable to breathe — after eating the bars. According to the agency, when the bars are chewed they can rapidly hydrate on contact with saliva and form a dry, sticky mass that standard choking first aid, including back blows and the Heimlich manoeuvre, may not dislodge. Some of the children needed help from emergency responders and hospital observation, according to a detailed summary of the FDA alert published on November 2.

Source: LexBlog summary of the FDA safety alert, November 2, 2026

Every flavour, every lot code, every date is covered

This is not a narrow, single-batch recall. The FDA's warning applies to all Tractor Wheels bars in all three flavours — Apple, Sweet Potato and Spinach; Strawberry, Pumpkin and Beet; and Banana, Pumpkin and Cauliflower — with all lot codes and all expiration dates. The company's own notice lists applicable unexpired Best If Used By dates running from October 30, 2026 to August 26, 2027. Because no code check can clear a box, the rule for parents is simple: if the box says Tractor Wheels, it is part of the recall.

Once Upon a Farm said its decision to recall followed three consumer complaints reported to the FDA about choking, and the company stated that no injuries had been reported to it to date. That company statement sits alongside the FDA's own account, which describes several reports of toddlers choking with complete airway obstruction, some of whom needed emergency help. The two accounts describe the same event from different positions, and both are reported here as their authors gave them; what is not in dispute is the instruction both sides agree on — the bars should not be served to children.

Sold at Costco, Target and Walmart — the stores Punjabi families use most

The bars were sold online nationwide and in stores across 45 states and Puerto Rico, including at Costco, Target and Walmart, and possibly through Amazon and other third-party sellers, according to the FDA reporting carried by HealthDay and local outlets on November 2. Those are exactly the big-box stores where Punjabi and other South Asian families across California, New York, New Jersey, Texas and Washington do their weekly shopping — and where grandparents, babysitters and older siblings may also pick up toddler snacks without seeing a recall headline.

Source: HealthDay via Drugs.com, November 2, 2026

The company, which built its brand on organic food for babies and toddlers, said no other Once Upon a Farm product is part of the recall. It said it is working with the FDA to make sure the affected bars are removed from sale while it reformulates the product. The recall is limited to the Tractor Wheels line; the company's pouches and other products are not affected, according to both the FDA notice and the company announcement.

Why a soft-baked bar can be dangerous for a toddler

The hazard described by the FDA is not a foreign object or contamination — it is the texture of the food itself. A soft-baked bar that swells and turns sticky when wet can seal a small airway, and a toddler's airway is far narrower than an adult's. Food-safety experts note that children under three are still learning to chew and swallow coordinatedly, which is why regulators treat reports of complete obstruction — rather than ordinary coughing — as a potentially fatal hazard, the phrase the FDA itself used in its alert, as reported by 2822 News on November 2.

Source: 2822 News, November 2, 2026

For truck-driving families — a large share of this site's American readers — the practical risk is distance: snacks like these travel in diaper bags, car seats and grandparents' kitchens, far from the store where they were bought and often weeks after purchase. A recall that covers every lot and date, with Best If Used By dates stretching to August 2027, means bars bought long ago and stored in a pantry are still covered today.

What happens next

Retailers are expected to pull remaining stock, the company will reformulate the bars before any return to shelves, and the FDA will keep its alert in place while it monitors for further reports. Parents who bought the bars should check cupboards, diaper bags and grandparents' homes, throw the product out or return it unopened for a refund, and seek emergency help immediately if any child struggles to breathe after eating. No deaths have been reported in connection with the recall.