Brad’s kale chips have been recalled nationwide over possible thallium contamination, and about 25,000 bags are estimated to be in commerce. The recall covers four products sold in 2-ounce and 3-ounce bags, with best-by dates running from December 2026 to February 2027.
The notice was reported on Nov. 3, 2026, by Food Safety News. The chips are sold under the Brad’s Plant Based brand, and the company behind them is Snack Right Super Foods Inc., doing business as Brad’s Raw Chips.
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The 4 Recalled Products
All four products are packaged in bags and carry the Brad’s name. According to Food Safety News and a recall summary from FOX 9, the list is:
- Brad’s Crunchy Kale, Original, 2 ounces (57 grams), UPC 813104021679, with best-by dates of Feb. 1, Feb. 11 and Feb. 17, 2027.
- Brad’s Crunchy Kale, Cheeze It Up, 2 ounces (57 grams), UPC 813104021877, with a best-by date of Feb. 16, 2027.
- Brad’s Crunchy Kale, Radical Ranch, 2 ounces (57 grams), UPC 813104020726, with a best-by date of Dec. 21, 2026.
- Brad’s Veggie Chips Kale, 3 ounces (85 grams), UPC 854615002054, with best-by dates from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1, 2027.
Each product is tied to specific lot codes printed on the bag. The Original flavor is the widest, with five lots across three best-by dates. The Radical Ranch flavor has the earliest date of the group, Dec. 21, 2026, and the latest date is Feb. 17, 2027, on one Original lot.
Where the Chips Were Sold
The recalled chips were distributed nationwide through two large wholesale distributors, KeHE Distributors and United Natural Foods Inc., known as UNFI, according to Food Safety News. A Wikipedia entry describes UNFI as a wholesale distributor of natural, organic and specialty groceries based in Providence, Rhode Island. The company also sold directly to five individual consumers.
Distribution took place between October 2025 and December 2025, the report says. Because that was close to a year ago, bags may still sit in home pantries, desk drawers and lunch boxes. Neither report names specific retailers or states, so shoppers cannot rely on a store name and need to check the package itself. A recent recall of Baby Brezza bottle sterilizer dryers is another reminder that product notices only help when buyers notice them. A guide to foods that seem healthy but are not covers other snack-aisle products that deserve a second look at the label.
What Thallium Is and How It Was Found
Thallium is a naturally occurring element, according to Wikipedia, found at low levels in soils, rocks and certain ores. Food Safety News reports that the manufacturing process did not add it to the chips. Kale can take up the metal from soil, and the report notes that dehydration removes roughly 85 to 90 percent of the water, which concentrates whatever metal is already in the fresh leaves. A guide to avoiding food poisoning from rice covers another kitchen topic where small habits matter, and wallet-friendly life hacks are worth a look for shoppers whose snack budget just lost a bag.
The California Department of Public Health had warned the public about Brad’s products in May 2026, after it began investigating an inquiry from a person with elevated thallium levels. State officials bought samples from stores in the Sacramento area, and laboratory testing found elevated thallium in several varieties, according to Food Safety News. The recall was started after the Food and Drug Administration told the company about thallium in the tested products.
What Shoppers Are Told to Do
The instructions are short. Anyone holding a bag from the list should stop eating it and throw it away. The company is not offering refunds, and consumers are told not to return the chips to the store where they bought them, according to both FOX 9 and Food Safety News.
The recall summary says no illness reports were mentioned in the notice. It tells anyone who thinks they were affected by the chips to contact a health care provider. For a pantry check, the lot number and best-by date on the bag are the details to match against the list above. Households that keep snack food in a shared drawer or office cabinet may want to check there as well, since bags tend to move around. The related household habit of keeping a handwritten grocery list can make it easier to remember what was bought and when.
Checking a Pantry Against the List
A bag counts only if every detail matches. The brand must be Brad’s, the size must be 2 ounces for the three Crunchy Kale flavors or 3 ounces for the Veggie Chips Kale, and the UPC and lot code must match the notice. A bag of Brad’s Crunchy Kale in the Original flavor with a Feb. 1, 2027 date, for example, is covered only if its lot is one of 33525-1, 33525-2 or 33525-3, according to Food Safety News.
Other Brad’s flavors and other kale chip brands are not named in this recall. Shoppers who are unsure can photograph the bag before discarding it so the details are on hand if questions come up later.
How Food Recalls Work
The Food and Drug Administration describes a recall as an action in which a company removes a product from the market, and the company can start it on its own or at the agency’s request, according to the agency’s recall definitions. The agency sorts recalls into three classes based on how likely the product is to cause harm. The agency keeps a running list of notices on its recalls and safety alerts page, which is the place to look for updates.
Food recalls are not unusual, and they are handled quietly in many households.
For this recall, the practical step is simple: check the brand, the size, the UPC and the best-by date. Bags that match should be discarded, and bags from other brands or other lots are not part of the notice. Shoppers with questions can reach the company contact listed in the notice, which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time, or watch the FDA page for any change to the list.
With nationwide distribution and a best-by window that runs well into 2027, some of the recalled bags may still be in homes today, which is why a quick pantry check is worth the few minutes it takes.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Kari Sullivan – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons
