Whole Foods Has Big Labeling Mix-Up

Whoops. Whole Foods, a chain that likely has no shortage of vegan customers, mixed up the labels on its curried chicken salad and its vegan "chick'n" salad at more than a dozen stores across the Northeast this week, the chain announced today. The snafu affected stores in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Jersey, the AP reports. In some cases the mislabeled salads were on cold bars where customers filled their own containers; in others, they were sold as "prepared food."

In addition to the obvious displeasure vegans might feel about being made unwitting carnivores, the incident was potentially dangerous, the FDA pointed out, because the vegan salad contains soy and the chicken salad contains egg, and people allergic to either could suffer life-threatening reactions if they unwittingly consumed them. That said, no illnesses have yet been reported, per Whole Foods. The mislabeled salads were only on sale on Tuesday and Wednesday, but if you've been hanging onto one, proceed with due caution. (More Whole Foods stories.)