Once Upon a Farm pulls all Tractor Wheels toddler bars after choking reports

Once Upon a Farm, the organic baby- and toddler-food company that went public on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year, has recalled every flavor, size and lot of its Tractor Wheels soft-baked snack bars after regulators said they had received three reports of toddlers choking on the product. The Food and Drug Administration published the recall notice on November 2, two days after the Berkeley, Calif.-based company first announced the action.

The agency said the bars, once chewed, can form a dry, sticky mass that standard choking first aid — including back blows and abdominal thrusts — may fail to dislodge. Some of the incidents required emergency responders and hospital observation, though no deaths or lasting injuries have been confirmed. The recalled product covers three flavors — Apple, Sweet Potato & Spinach; Strawberry, Pumpkin & Beet; and Banana, Pumpkin & Cauliflower — plus multipack and variety-pack configurations and online-only snack sampler boxes that included Tractor Wheels cartons, according to the company's recall announcement. The bars were sold nationally and in Puerto Rico through retail stores and online, with "Best If Used By" dates ranging from October 30, 2026, to August 26, 2027.

Three complaints, no identified cause

According to a transcript of a November 2 investor call that the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the recall began after a single parent reported a choking incident to Once Upon a Farm directly. Two days later, the FDA told the company it had received two additional reports submitted straight to the agency, bringing the total to three. Because the company could not determine which flavors, sizes or production lots were connected to the complaints, it pulled the entire Tractor Wheels line rather than a narrower subset.

Chief executive John Foraker, who co-founded the company with the actor Jennifer Garner, told investors the company has not yet identified a root cause it can directly link to the reports. It has hired an outside firm to conduct a physical-hazard assessment and is working with its manufacturer to rule out production or ingredient-supply problems, according to the filing. The company said it intends to resume selling Tractor Wheels once that review is complete and any formulation or production changes are validated, though it gave no timetable.

Toddlers between roughly 18 months and two-and-a-half years old — the age range the bars were marketed for — are considered at elevated risk of choking generally because molars needed for grinding food are still coming in and self-feeding coordination is still developing. The FDA's advisory urged parents and caregivers with the bars in their homes not to serve them, to discard unopened packages, and to call 911 immediately if a child chokes and first aid does not clear the airway.

A fast-growing brand's biggest test since its IPO

The recall lands at a sensitive moment for the company. Once Upon a Farm priced its initial public offering at $18 a share in February and began trading on the NYSE under the ticker OFRM. Tractor Wheels, introduced as a toddler-focused extension of the company's cold-pressed baby food business, has become one of its most significant products: the line accounted for about 18 percent of the company's net sales for the year to date, according to figures disclosed on the investor call.

The company reported roughly $106.4 million in cash and no outstanding debt as of September 30, with up to $95 million more available under existing credit facilities. Executives told investors they could not yet estimate the recall's total cost, the extent of any insurance recovery, or how long Tractor Wheels would be off shelves. A fuller accounting is expected on November 12, when the company is scheduled to report third-quarter financial results.

This is not the company's first recall. In 2024, Once Upon a Farm pulled a different product, an organic plant-rich toddler meal, after environmental testing turned up Listeria monocytogenes. No illnesses were linked to that recall. The repeat episode adds pressure on a brand that has built its market position on promises of unusually rigorous ingredient sourcing and food-safety standards for a category, baby and toddler snacks, where parents have limited ability to inspect products themselves before serving them to children too young to describe what is wrong.

"We fell short of that, and that is why we are taking these aggressive actions," the company said in its October 30 recall announcement, after stating that food safety and quality are core to its mission.

Retailers pull product, refunds offered

Costco, Target and Walmart were among the major retailers that carried Tractor Wheels and have removed it from shelves and online listings, according to multiple retail and news accounts, including ABC's Good Morning America. The bars may also have reached consumers through Amazon and other third-party online sellers, the FDA notice said. The company says no other Once Upon a Farm products, including its baby-food pouches and other snack lines, are affected.

Parents who bought the recalled bars are instructed not to open or serve them and to return unopened or opened packages to the place of purchase for a full refund, or to contact the company directly through its customer-care line or by email. Once Upon a Farm set up a temporary increase in customer-service staffing, a dedicated recall section on its website, and a hotline to field questions, according to the SEC filing. Coverage from outlets including NBC Boston has helped spread the warning to parents who may not routinely check federal recall databases.

What happens next

The company has given no firm date for Tractor Wheels to return to stores, saying only that it is prioritizing the hazard investigation over a quick relaunch. Investors will get a clearer financial picture on November 12, when third-quarter results are due, including any early estimate of lost sales, disposal costs for pulled inventory, and insurance recovery. The FDA's recall remains open, and the agency has not indicated whether it will pursue further enforcement action beyond the voluntary recall already underway.

For now, pediatric-safety advocates' core advice echoes the agency's: parents of toddlers should supervise mealtimes closely regardless of which products are on the recall list, cut round or dense foods into small pieces, and know basic choking first aid, since choking remains a leading cause of nonfatal injury among young children broadly, independent of any single product recall.