If you’ve recently stocked up on gallon jugs of Meijer brand distilled water, it might be time to double-check the label.
More than 38,000 gallons of Meijer Steam Distilled Water have been pulled from store shelves after a black, foreign substance was discovered floating inside some of the containers, according to a notice posted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The recall affects 128-ounce plastic jugs (1 gallon) with red caps, distributed in cases of four across six states: Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. The impacted products have a sell-by date of October 4, 2026, and the lot code 39-222 #3.
Michigan-based Meijer Distribution Inc. voluntarily initiated the recall back in November 2025, but details are only now drawing wider attention as regulators continue to review the issue. Despite weeks having passed, neither the FDA nor Meijer has revealed what the mystery substance actually is—or whether any consumers have been affected.
More than 38,000 gallons of bottled water recalled from ‘foreign substance’ https://t.co/38V575iCag pic.twitter.com/rnlkzrZytn
— New York Post (@nypost) January 16, 2026
Do you think Meijer should improve product safety measures?
The silence is raising eyebrows.
The FDA has not yet assigned a recall classification to the case, which would indicate the potential severity of the health threat. That means we don’t know whether this is a Class I situation—which would imply a serious risk to health—or something more minor like a Class III. But 38,000 gallons isn’t exactly a small batch.
With growing consumer concern over product safety, this recall is now joining a string of recent high-profile food and beverage scares, including salmonella outbreaks tied to dietary powders and Listeria contamination in cheese products.
For now, customers in the affected states are being urged to check their cabinets, especially if they’ve purchased Meijer’s Steam Distilled Water in bulk. As questions mount over how a foreign substance got into sealed water jugs in the first place, Meijer and the FDA still haven’t explained what the floating mystery material is—and that silence is anything but reassuring.
