Martinelli's Apple Juice Recalled Due to Carcinogenic Substance Contamination

Short of buying apples fresh from your local farmers market and then eating or juicing them at home, buying retail apple juice in a glass container is a delicious treat. It's also typically a safe treat, or until recently, so we thought.

In 2024, Walmart recalled 10,000 cases of apple juice due to elevated levels of arsenic. A year later, Martinelli's Apple Juice has followed suit and recalled one of its products for a similar reason.

If you partake in drinking apple juice for the sweet, delicious, refreshing benefits, you will want to check the label of the glass bottle in your refrigerator to make sure that your apple juice isn't the latest in a long list of 2025 beverage recalls.

Keep reading to understand the cause of the Martinelli's Apple Juice recall, where the affected products were distributed, and more details of this troubling announcement.

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Enforcement Report explains, S. Martinelli & Co. first issued a recall of its 10-ounce glass Martinelli’s Apple Juice product on March 18. Then, on April 22, the issue was elevated to a Class II recall.

Per the FDA Enforcement Report, 7,234 cases of the product were recalled due to "Potential contamination with patulin." Each case contained 24 bottles, totaling nearly 173,000 potentially contaminated bottles of Martinelli’s Apple Juice.

The contaminated apple juice was distributed to 28 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Sometimes found as a contaminant of foods like apple juice, and often found in rotting apples, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, patulin is "A mycotoxin produced by several species of Aspergillus and Penicillium, it has antibiotic properties but has been shown to be carcinogenic and mutagenic."

Furthermore, per the fact sheet, "the amount of patulin in apple products is generally viewed as a measure of the quality of the apples used in production."

"In 2024, the FDA routine testing indicated that one lot of 10-ounce Martinelli’s Apple Juice glass bottles (in 4-packs only) produced in December 2023 may contain elevated levels of Patulin, a naturally occurring substance produced by molds that can grow in apples," they said in a statement, per NBC News.

The Best By Date for the contaminated bottles reads December 5, 2026. Described in the FDA Enforcement Report as packaged in "clear/translucent bulbous/round glass bottle with white metal screw top lid," the unmistakable appearance of the Martinelli’s Apple Juice bottle should be easy to spot for consumers.

If you believe you are in possession of a contaminated bottle, you should document it, dispose of it, and contact S. Martinelli & Co. for a refund.