12 Recalls That Will Always Haunt Starbucks

Like any food and drink company, Starbucks has to recall products from time to time. Yet certain problems are bigger than others, which is why this particular list of incidents will always haunt the coffee company. A product recall is an action companies take when something on sale to the public isn't working like it should after the fact. Those in charge must warn consumers not to use the product, lest they get hurt or sick. The issue could be that a car battery is prone to catching on fire, a piece of furniture can't stay upright, or a batch of milk is contaminated with deadly bacteria.

In the case of the coffee giant, it has had plenty of problems. There was a batch of frappuccinos laced with glass, branded water bottles that seemed to shatter for no reason, and a very unfortunate coincidence with advertising imagery in the summer of 2002. While some Starbucks drinks cause controversy, these recalled products, in some cases, actually caused injuries. Whatever problems the chain might have in the future, these will be the recalls that the company can never get away from.

In 2019, Starbucks had to recall an entire line of coffee presses because of the potential for injury while using them. The presses in question were co-branded with Bodum, a Danish glassware company. The popular machines could be purchased online or in any Starbucks location for most of 2016 so customers could create their favorite cup of coffee at home. But they had a huge fault: The handle on the plunger was prone to breaking off. There was a sharp metal piece underneath, which could cut the user's hand easily if they were using the machine normally. Reports indicated that some users punctured their hands, while others cutting themselves on the broken parts.

To prevent customers from hurting themselves, Starbucks encouraged all who had one at home to simply return it for a store credit. Trade-ins were not available at the time, as it was assumed the press traded for would also have the same defect. Considering roughly 263,200 units were recalled in the United States and Canada, it's not something Starbucks will easily be able to live down.

In 2023, the coffee giant issued a recall for something non-ingestible being present in its Vanilla Frappuccino Chilled Coffee: bits of glass. No, the bottles were not prone to breaking and causing harm in that way. Instead, it was feared that the batch might actually have little bits of glass mixed inside the bottle with the drink. That would be a sharp, nasty surprise with your morning cup of coffee!

The company admitted that at least 25,000 cases of frappuccinos had the potential to be a part of the problem. With 12 bottles of coffee a case, that's a lot of drinks — making this recall something that Starbucks execs might be up at night thinking about. Luckily, there were no reports of anyone drinking the coffee and being hurt by glass before the recall went into effect. However, if you have any old bottles of this coffee marked with March 8, May 29, June 4, or June 10, and with a 2023 expiration date, it's best to throw them out for your own safety.

After the September 11th terrorist attacks, there was a lot of media in the United States that suddenly became controversial due to implied association with the buildings, even if it never would have been before. Because of the national trauma caused by the events of the day, many Americans felt a great sensitivity towards any advertisements featuring the twin towers. This extended to media that could even be interpreted as including them, even if they were not explicitly shown. One such representation was a summer 2002 Starbucks campaign "Collapse into Cool." The advertisement depicted two frozen drinks side by side. However, in the background a dragonfly angled down at the drinks, as if it might fly into them. Coupled with the text about collapsing, this advertisement caused distress for many. The summer campaign didn't last long because of the backlash and Starbucks removed all traces of the poster from its locations by early June of that year.

The company issued a statement reading, "The overall concept of the poster was to create a somewhat magical place using bright colors and fun, whimsical elements such as palm trees, dragonflies, butterflies and pinwheels. The headline 'Collapse into cool, Try a new Tazo Citrus with tangerine, orange and lime' was meant to conjure up feelings of cooling off on a hot summer day," per Snopes. However, many felt suspicious of this, so the recall of this poster will always haunt Starbucks.

Not even Starbucks is immune to E. coli outbreaks. In 2015, the chain had to recall its holiday turkey paninis from almost 1,350 locations across California, Oregon and Nevada. Sources from the company said they hadn't had any reports of anyone getting sick, but those investigating discovered that the recall also impacted Costco, as the grocery giant also had to pull food from its shelves.

The E. coli bacteria is present in most mammals, however if you have too much of it or come into contact with a certain kind, you can become very unwell. Typically, symptoms present as food poisoning or gastro, so you will throw up, have a fever, or experience diarrhea. You are most likely to get E. coli from food that isn't cooked enough or has been prepared by someone who hasn't washed their hands after using the toilet. On an industrial scale like this, it's possible that the meat or vegetables used in the batch were not cooked or cleaned properly, or that the equipment was compromised by an earlier batch. While no one was hurt in this particular E. coli outbreak, it's still a serious matter, as it can cause severe illness and even death — Starbucks won't soon forget their food being contaminated with such a dangerous bacteria. 

If you grind your own beans for your morning coffee, you want to be sure that the beans are the only thing the blade touches. However, Starbucks had to recall about 530,000of its coffee grinders because the on/off switch on the machine wasn't working as designed. Instead of coming to life or shutting off when prompted, the company received 176 reports that the blade would either randomly turn off, or not turn off at all.

This life of its own posed a huge safety risk to consumers. In fact, multiple owners of the grinders reported to the company that the blade turned on without warning while they were cleaning their machine, harming them by cutting their hands. This recall was so large partly because the machines had been for sale at both Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee from 2002 until 2009. Luckily, for those who were not hurt, the company offered to give those impacted a new grinder free of charge ... hopefully one that doesn't pose a risk of slicing off their fingers.

Many Starbucks fans enjoy collecting cups and mugs from the company, no matter how many they might already have. There are typically fun colors and collaborations with other big brands, like Starbucks X Stanley collaboration. Yet nearly half a million holiday mugs that were co-branded with Nestle had to be recalled by the company after a mistake in the holiday 2023 run of metallic-looking mugs.

The mugs were a part of a wrapped holiday gift set that coffee-lovers could grab at select Starbucks locations. The mugs were ceramic and were supposed to be microwave safe, yet if users heated liquids inside the container, or poured already hot coffee into them, the insulation wasn't working correctly. The mugs became way too hot and could cause burns or other injuries to the user. However, while 440,500 gift sets recalled, the were 12 reports of injuries, but they were gruesome. Most impacted customers reported horrible burns on their hands, while another also reported a laceration. While it seems the company caught the product before it could cause much more damage, the severity of the injuries means it's a recall that the coffee giant won't soon forget. 

Much like the frappuccinos that had the possibility of slivers of glass being mixed into the drink, Starbucks faced another embarrassing recall involving glass bottles. Except this time, the glass issue was with the bottle itself. In 2010, the $9 glass bottles flew off the shelves because of their price and appearance, and then some of them flew apart in customers' hands. When customers either pulled the stopper out of the bottle, or pressed it in, the bottle would shatter, posing a serious risk for injury.

The sample size for this recall was smaller than others on this list, at about 12,200 units in the USA and Canada, while at least 10 people were hurt before the recall. When shattered, the glass cut their hands. If impacted, customers could not only get a refund, but also a free drink at the Starbucks to make up for their trouble. After hearing about this recall, consumers might wonder if it's best to avoid glass water bottles from Starbucks going forward, just in case.

More than 73,000 coffee brewers were impacted by a flaw that could have caused a fire in 2006. The company admitted that the machines had something wrong with their electrical wiring. During normal use, the wires sometimes would get too hot and begin to melt the plastic on the outside of the machine. Customers also reported that the machines were smoking and sparking, which was a big threat to safety. Luckily, there were no actual kitchen fires caused by the faulty machines, but the risk was high enough to make Starbucks recall them right away. And on top of that, customers were shelling out $100 to use a product that was malfunctioning and potentially dangerous — way too high a price for something that doesn't work and has the potential to cause harm. Luckily, there were never any reports of anyone getting hurt while using this machine.

The company offered a full refund for each of the defective machines, making that about $730,000 in maximum projected loss up front. Consumers just needed to get in touch with the corporate headquarters to help cover the cost of shipping for returning the heavier machines. This is a recall that will always haunt Starbucks because the company had to offer free bags of coffee to get people to actually participate in the return program. Yet since the average one-pound bag of coffee is $9, that's another approximate $657,000 in losses for the company if the majority of affected customers opted in to the recall. 

When using a mug with handles, most consumers likely prefer that the handles of the cup stay on for each sip to keep things safe. Should the handles break off mid-use, you are at risk of spilling the contents of your cup all over yourself. In the context of a cup of coffee, this puts you at risk of severe burns — and the potential for a big lawsuit. Anyone remember that infamous McDonald's coffee story? Yet in 2007, this is an issue Starbucks actually had to face when it recalled 167,000 mugs. 

The handles of at least 23 of the 14-ounce plastic mugs popped right off during use, causing burns and other injuries to the customers. Those impacted could return the cup for a refund, plus a voucher for a free drink of their choice while in store — this was to encourage people to actually participate in the recall. The maximum lost revenue from the returned $11 mugs would be roughly $1,837,000, plus additional loss from the free drink cost the company dearly, meaning this is a recall that Starbucks will never forget. 

While choking hazards are always serious, they often seem even more so when it comes to children. In 2007, Starbucks issued a recall for 250,000 children's cups. There were four types of cups included in this recall, each with a unique color and fun cartoon character attached. They were made in China, but sold in America for nearly a year and a half. The issue with the cups comes from when they were dropped, which children often do to dishes when first starting to feed themselves.

The part of the cup featuring the fun character was prone to breaking off. This could cause two issues. The first, is the smaller parts posed a serious risk of choking for the child. Next, the leftover parts of plastic around the rest of the cup were now jagged. If the child tried to drink out of it, they could really hurt themselves. In fact, the company received at least two reports of children choking on the pieces that had broken off. Luckily, the children were able to be saved. Because it impacted kids, this is one of the most haunting recalls the company could face.

With the realization that plastic straws might be unnecessarily contributing to the pollution of earth's waterways and harming the creatures that call them home, many people and businesses made the move away from them. While some disposable options now included paper, some consumers chose to go with a more sustainable option: Metal. Yet embarrassingly, Starbucks had to recall one of its attempts to step into this arena.

The company once redesigned its cold cups to use less plastic, and also tried to nix plastic straws by offering metal alternatives for sale. Yet in 2016, Starbucks put out a call for customers to bring back more than 2.8 million sets of the stainless steel straws. The product came in a set of two straws and could fit both grande and venti drinks. However, the straws were too rigid and could cause lacerations to the customer's mouth while drinking. The reports that Starbucks received about this product mostly impacted children who cut their mouths on the straws — instances where children are injured are always particularly upsetting, so Starbucks' reputation took a hit with this situation. To make matters worse, no refund or alternative option was ever issued. Instead, customers were only told to keep the straws away from their children, while adults could safely continue to use them.

Starbucks doesn't just sell coffee, as many fans will know that they can pick up breakfast and lunch sandwiches in a box at most of the locations, too. However, in 2016 Starbucks reported that listeria had been found in the facility that manufactures these products for certain regions. Over 250 stores in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas were shipped English muffin breakfast sandwiches that had been produced on equipment with the bacteria.

Exposure to listeria is serious, as it can cause intense infections, even leading to death in some cases. When Blue Bell ice cream had a listeria outbreak, it killed three people. So, it was essential for public health that Starbucks gets these sandwiches off the shelves as quickly as possible. Luckily, in this case the chain reported that there were not any deaths or illnesses linked to the problem as it was caught in time. Still, Starbucks won't soon forget this close call!