You’d assume a bag of chips sitting on a U.S. store shelf already passed every import check it needed to. That assumption is exactly what failed here — a New York distributor has recalled potato chips with pork cracklings after learning the meat inside came from a country not authorized to export meat to the U.S. at all.
How this surfaced
El Eden Import Distributor Corp, based in Long Island City, recalled its De Todito NATURAL and BBQ chips with chicharrón after the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service found the meat was produced in Colombia — a country not currently eligible to export meat products to the United States, according to Food Safety News’s report, citing FSIS. The issue surfaced through a consumer complaint after the product turned up without the import marks that are supposed to be on any legally imported meat item.
That’s the detail worth noticing — this wasn’t found by a routine inspection at the border. It was a shopper noticing something was missing on the packaging, and reporting it.
What “not authorized to export meat” actually means
Country eligibility isn’t about the quality of a specific product — it’s about whether the exporting country’s meat inspection system has been certified by the U.S. as equivalent to American standards. Colombia isn’t on that certified list, which means no meat product from Colombia, regardless of how it was made, is legally allowed into U.S. commerce right now.
That’s a different failure mode than contamination. The chicharrón itself may have been made perfectly safely by Colombian standards — the problem is that U.S. regulators haven’t verified those standards meet the bar required for import, so there’s no chain of inspection oversight backing the product once it’s here.
The specific bags involved
The recall covers De Todito NATURAL and BBQ mixed chips with chicharrón, sold in 45-gram foil bags. About 264 pounds were recalled, imported on July 28, and distributed to New Jersey and Utah. No illnesses have been reported.
It’s a small volume as recalls go, but if you or someone in your household regularly buys De Todito products from a Latin market or specialty grocer in either state, it’s worth checking the bag against this description.
Why “no import marks” is the tell
Legally imported meat and poultry products carry an official USDA mark verifying they passed inspection at the point of entry. Its absence here is what tipped off the consumer who reported it — a detail easy to miss unless you know to look for it.
If you’re someone who regularly buys imported snack foods with meat ingredients, checking for that mark is a habit worth having, even though most shoppers have never been told to look for it.
What to do if you have this product
Don’t eat it — throw it away or return it to where you bought it. Since no illnesses have been linked to this recall, there’s no reason for panic if you’ve already eaten some, but there’s also no reason to finish the bag.
If you bought it from a smaller independent market rather than a chain grocer, a refund process may be less formal — contacting the store directly is usually the fastest path.
What this changes about buying imported snack foods
Most imported specialty foods on U.S. shelves are exactly what they claim to be, correctly inspected and legally here. This case is notable precisely because it’s rare — a product that made it onto shelves despite coming from a country that isn’t cleared to export meat at all.
It’s not a reason to avoid an entire aisle of imported snacks. It’s a reason to know that “it’s on the shelf at my regular store” isn’t, on its own, proof that every check happened.
A small recall with a bigger lesson in it
264 pounds, two states, zero illnesses — this one is easy to miss and easy to fix. Check your pantry for the specific bag, toss it if it matches, and treat the rest of your imported snack shelf the way you did yesterday: with the ordinary trust that most of what’s on a U.S. shelf actually cleared the process it was supposed to.
This content was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Womens Overview editors prior to publication.