If you’ve been grabbing Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread from the freezer section at Walmart, Costco, or a bunch of other major retailers, stop. Check your freezer right now. Champion Foods LLC, the Michigan company behind the product, issued a voluntary recall on May 29, 2026, because of a potential Salmonella contamination tied to a supplier’s milk powder. The product has a long shelf life stretching into early 2027, so there’s a real chance you still have a box sitting in your freezer from months ago.
Here’s everything you need to know about the recall, which products are affected, where they were sold, and what you should actually do about it.
What Exactly Got Recalled
The recall covers certain batches of Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread, made by Champion Foods LLC out of New Boston, Michigan. Both single packs and two-packs are included. The two-pack has a specific UPC code: 8 70375 00509 8. If you have either version, you need to look at the sell-by date printed in black ink on the front of the box, right inside the cheese bread image.
No other Motor City Pizza Co. products are part of this recall. It’s only the 5 Cheese Bread. So if you have their other frozen pizzas or items, those are fine. This is limited to specific lots and sell-by dates of the cheese bread only.
The Sell-By Dates You Need to Check
If you bought this at Costco, the affected Costco Item Number is #1453434, and the purchase window falls between February 6, 2026 and May 29, 2026. The specific sell-by dates on recalled boxes are:
2/3/2027, 2/4/2027, 2/24/2027, 2/25/2027, 3/10/2027, 3/11/2027, 3/18/2027, and 3/25/2027.
Yes, those dates are all in 2027. That’s the whole problem. Because the product has such a long freezer shelf life, boxes from months ago could still easily be in people’s homes. If you’re someone who stocks up during Costco runs (and honestly, who doesn’t), go dig through the freezer. The sell-by code is printed in black ink on the front of the package. It’s not hidden on the bottom or back, which is a nice change of pace for once.
Where the Cheese Bread Was Sold
This wasn’t some niche product at a handful of stores. The recalled cheese bread was distributed nationwide to more than 20 retailers. The full list includes Costco, Walmart, Giant Landover, Grocery Outlet, Jewel, Kroger, Schnucks, Target, C&S, Bozzuto’s, Brookshire Grocery, Meijer, Food City, KeHe, Lipari, Publix, Merchants Dis Hickory, PDI/Hy-Vee, River Valley, SpartanNash, Supervalu, and UNFI.
That covers a huge chunk of American grocery shopping. Whether you’re in the Midwest buying from Meijer, down South hitting up Publix, or doing the biweekly Costco haul, there’s a decent chance your store carried this product. If you shop at any of these places and you’ve bought frozen cheese bread in the last few months, it’s worth a freezer check.
Why It Got Recalled (It’s a Supply Chain Thing)
Champion Foods didn’t find Salmonella in its cheese bread. In fact, routine testing by the seasonings blend manufacturer came back negative. So what happened? The issue traces back to a supplier called California Dairies, Inc., which recalled its powdered milk and buttermilk powder on April 20, 2026, due to potential Salmonella contamination. That milk powder was sent to a third-party manufacturer, which used it to make a seasoning blend. That seasoning blend then ended up in the five-cheese sauce on Motor City’s cheese bread.
So this is a classic domino situation. One ingredient from one supplier winds its way through other companies and into a finished product on your grocery shelf. Champion Foods said it issued the recall “out of an abundance of caution” after learning the seasoning supplier had used the potentially affected milk powder. Even though their own tests showed no problems, they pulled the product anyway. Which, honestly, is the right call.
The Scope Is Bigger Than One Cheese Bread
Here’s the part that makes this recall unusual. California Dairies is not a small operation. They supply roughly 40 percent of the dried milk powder market in the United States. Their original recall covered over 2.6 million pounds of low heat nonfat dry milk and nearly 20,000 pounds of buttermilk powder. That is an enormous volume of ingredient that went out to manufacturers across the country.
The FDA has been tracking all the downstream recalls on a dedicated page, and as of now, more than 40 food items from multiple manufacturers have been pulled. That list has been growing steadily since April, and nobody has said it’s done yet. The Motor City cheese bread is one of the most prominent and recent additions, but it’s far from the only one. If you want to be thorough, it’s worth checking the FDA’s tracking page to see if anything else in your pantry or freezer might also be affected.
Has Anyone Gotten Sick
No. As of the recall announcement, neither Champion Foods nor its suppliers have received any reports of illness or injury connected to the recalled cheese bread. That’s good news. And again, the testing that was done on the seasoning blend came back negative for Salmonella. This recall is precautionary, which is actually the best kind of recall to be dealing with. Nobody is reporting getting sick. The company is just being careful because the ingredient chain includes a potentially contaminated source.
That said, “precautionary” doesn’t mean “ignore it.” The whole point of pulling the product now is to get ahead of any potential problems before they happen.
What You Should Do Right Now
Step one: go look at your freezer. If you have Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread, check the sell-by date on the front of the box. If it matches any of the dates listed above (2/3/2027, 2/4/2027, 2/24/2027, 2/25/2027, 3/10/2027, 3/11/2027, 3/18/2027, 3/25/2027), do not eat it.
Step two: if you bought it at Costco, you can return it to your local Costco for a full refund. Costco has been telling customers directly that returns are accepted. Other retailers may have different return policies, so check with the store where you bought it.
Step three: if you have questions or want more details, you can email Champion Foods directly at info@championfoods.com. They’re the manufacturer and have been responding to customer inquiries about the recall.
Don’t try to cook it extra long or at a higher temperature thinking that’ll fix it. Just return it or toss it. It’s a frozen cheese bread, not a family heirloom. Let it go.
The Long Shelf Life Makes This One Tricky
One of the things that makes this recall worth paying attention to is the timeline. The affected boxes at Costco were sold starting in early February 2026, and the sell-by dates stretch all the way into March and April of 2027. That’s over a year of shelf life. A lot of people buy frozen items, shove them behind the bag of peas, and forget about them for months. This is exactly the kind of product that sits in a freezer for a long time before anyone gets around to eating it.
The FDA specifically flagged this concern, noting that affected products could still be sitting in consumers’ freezers right now. So even if you bought this thing back in February or March and it’s been buried under frozen chicken and ice cream sandwiches ever since, it could still be there. This is your reminder to actually look.
Quick Summary of the Key Details
Product: Motor City Pizza Co. 5 Cheese Bread (single packs and two-packs)
Manufacturer: Champion Foods LLC, New Boston, Michigan
Recall announced: May 29, 2026
Reason: Potential Salmonella contamination from upstream supplier’s milk powder
Affected sell-by dates: 2/3/2027, 2/4/2027, 2/24/2027, 2/25/2027, 3/10/2027, 3/11/2027, 3/18/2027, 3/25/2027
Costco Item Number: #1453434
Costco purchase dates affected: February 6 to May 29, 2026
Sold at: Costco, Walmart, Target, Kroger, Publix, Meijer, Hy-Vee, and 15+ other retailers nationwide
Illnesses reported: None
Contact: info@championfoods.com
If you bought it at Costco, return it for a full refund. If you bought it anywhere else, contact the store or Champion Foods. And while you’re at it, check the FDA’s California Dairies recall tracking page to make sure nothing else in your kitchen is on the list. With more than 40 products affected and counting, it’s worth the two minutes.
