Report: Target Removes Hampton Creek Products Amid Safety, Labeling Accusations

Target is removing the Hampton Creek food brand from its store shelves amid reports of food safety issues at the startup company.

A spokeswoman for the nation's sixth-largest retailer told Bloomberg that Target received several reports of contamination in Hampton Creek's facilities and products, including positive tests for salmonella and listeria and evidence of pathogens at a manufacturing plant used by the company.

Target has not confirmed those reports and is not aware of any consumers getting sick as a result of eating Hampton Creek products.

Other allegations, meanwhile, suggested that a Hampton Creek salad dressing included honey but did not list it as an ingredient. Some products were also allegedly mislabeled as "non-GMO."

“Pending a full review, Target today started a market withdrawal of Hampton Creek products, which are being removed from Target stores and Target.com," the spokeswoman told Bloomberg last week.

The decision could be another setback for the San Francisco-based company, which famously sparred with rival companies and regulators over the name of its vegan mayonnaise and recalled baking mixes last year after an ingredient tested positive for salmonella.

A source told Bloomberg that Target is Hampton Creek's largest retail account and, at $5.5 million annually, comprises about one-third of its overall retail business.

Hampton Creek officials responded that the company is confident in "the safety of all products we sell and distribute" and that its labels match supplier documentation and meet FDA standards.

“The allegations that our products are mislabeled and unsafe are false,” the company told Bloomberg in a statement.