Target has launched a voluntary recall of two of its Up & Up baby wipe products sold throughout the United States after routine laboratory testing pointed to bacterial contamination. The action applies to stock bought in the retailer’s shops across the country as well as to items ordered through its website, meaning households in almost any part of the US could be holding an affected pack.
The decision, confirmed in a notice published on Friday, followed a combination of complaints from shoppers and separate analysis carried out by federal regulators that reached the same conclusion. The wipes are manufactured by Sapro Temizlik Urunleri, and the recall covers a range of pack sizes across both scents.
A Combination of Complaints and Laboratory Findings
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, a number of customers who had bought the wipes contacted both Target and the manufacturer to report discolouration of the product, along with symptoms that included skin irritation, eye irritation and infections. Around the same time, the regulator conducted its own testing of the wipes. That analysis, the FDA said, identified the presence of Burkholderia cepacia complex and Burkholderia gladioli, two bacteria the agency warned could cause life-threatening infections.
The regulator drew a clear distinction between different groups of users. Healthy individuals face a comparatively low risk of becoming ill through contact with the wipes, according to the FDA. The position is more serious for others. For immunocompromised people, newborns, infants and young children, the agency cautioned, an infection is more likely to spread into the bloodstream, raising the prospect of life-threatening sepsis or pneumonia.
The Products Affected and What Shoppers Should Do
Two Up & Up lines have been drawn into the recall: the fragrance-free wipes and the cucumber-scented variety. Both were sold in Target stores nationally as well as online. Affected packages of the fragrance-free wipes can be identified by the following product codes:
- 20 count: UPC 085239265956
- 72 count: UPC 085239265949
- 216 count: UPC 085239265963
- 800 count: UPC 085239266137
- 1,200 count: UPC 085239266090
Those packs also carry manufacturing date codes running from 7 November 2025 (071125X/XX) to 5 May 2026 (050526X/XXX), with expiry dates falling between 10 May 2028 (100528) and 5 November 2028 (051128). The recalled cucumber-scented wipes can be identified by these codes:
- 72 count: UPC 085239265970
- 216 count: UPC 085239265994
- 800 count: UPC 085239265987
Those packages carry manufacturing date codes of 29 December 2025 (291225X/XX) to 30 December 2025 (301225X/XX), with expiry dates between 29 June 2028 (290628) and 30 June 2028 (300628). Customers who own any of the affected products have been urged to stop using them immediately and to return them to Target for a full refund.
The baby wipes are the latest in a series of recalls to affect shoppers in recent weeks. Pizza products sold at retailers including Walmart and Costco have been withdrawn over possible contamination. In a notice issued last week, the FDA said certain batches of Champion Foods’ Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread contained a dry milk powder that California Dairies recalled in April over potential salmonella contamination.
That same ingredient has appeared in other products. In the past month, certain lots of Blackstone Parmesan Ranch seasoning, sold both through the company’s own website and in Walmart stores across the country, were recalled because they too contained the dairy-based powder. Taken together, the recent run of withdrawals spans personal care items and food, leaving shoppers to check pantry shelves and bathroom cupboards alike against the published codes.
