Whole Foods Accidentally Swapped Labels on Vegan Chicken and Real Chicken Salads

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If you’re a vegetarian or vegan who grabs lunch at Whole Foods once in awhile, you may have recently eaten some chicken by accident.

According to the chain, 15 stores in the region, including two in Massachusetts, sold vegan curried “chick’n” and regular curried chicken with the wrong labels on them, so those who were hoping for some meat in their meal got some soy instead. And vice versa. The products were on sale from May 7 to May 8, the company said, and sold in the cold salad bars.

The company said in a statement:

Whole Foods Market is recalling bulk curried chicken salad and bulk vegan curried chick’n salad because in some stores these items may have been sold with reversed labels causing undeclared soy and egg allergens. Due to the label mix-up, allergens were undeclared; the vegan chick’n salad contains soy, and the curried chicken salad contains egg.

The company warned that people who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to soy or eggs “run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction.” Not to mention, those who don’t eat meat have unknowingly committed a vegetarian/vegan no-no.

While they recalled the foods at the salad bar, there have been no reports to company officials about sickness or injury. The salad was sold at the Whole Foods Cambridge location, in Fresh Pond, and in Framingham, as well as stores in Maine, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.

The error was discovered by an employee working in the prepared food section in one of their stores. The company said signage is now posted in affected Whole Foods Market stores to notify customers of the recall. “Consumers who have purchased this product from Whole Foods Market may return it to the store for a full refund,” they said.

Customers with questions should contact their local store or call 617-492-5500.