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Halloween Candy Sold at TJ Maxx, Marshalls Recalled Over Undeclared Milk Allergen

Crystal Temptations is recalling its Halloween Chocolatey Eyeballs sold at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and Sierra stores in 13 states because the candy contains undeclared milk. The recall, posted by the FDA, follows a labeling error discovered by a TJX analyst. No illnesses have been reported.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 31 – Sep 1, 2026 Published 2h ago

Recall Overview

Crystal Temptations, based in North Arlington, New Jersey, is recalling its Halloween Chocolatey Eyeballs because the treats contain undeclared milk allergens, according to an alert posted by the S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The candies, sold under the Crystal Temptations brand, were distributed in Massachusetts and 12 other states at Marshalls, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, and Sierra Trading Post locations.

The recall was launched after a TJX analyst discovered that the chocolatey eyeballs, which contain whey, were packaged without a label disclosing the presence of milk. A subsequent investigation found that the labeling error was caused by a "temporary breakdown in the company's production and packaging processes," as reported by MassLive and Newsweek.

Affected States and Products

The recalled products were distributed in 13 states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming, according to Newsweek.

Shoppers can identify the affected products by the style numbers listed on the labels, which include a 10-ounce plastic bag with a header card (54040-CHEY), a 7-ounce acrylic box (54077-CHEY), a 10.5-ounce round plastic jar (58008-CHEY), a 16-ounce designer plastic pouch (58089-CHEY), and an 11-ounce plastic bag tied with a tag (54083-CHEY), as reported by both MassLive and Newsweek.

Health Risk and Reported Illnesses

Individuals with an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk "run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products," according to the recall notice. Milk is the most common undeclared food allergen, accounting for more than one-third of S. food recalls caused by undeclared allergens over the past decade, according to Newsweek. No illnesses have been reported in connection with the recalled candy, as of Tuesday, Sept. 1, per MassLive.

Consumer Guidance

The FDA urges consumers who purchased the recalled chocolatey eyeballs to destroy the product immediately. Refunds are not available at store registers. Instead, buyers are told to contact Crystal Temptations directly with proof of purchase to secure a refund. The company can be contacted at 1-201-246-7990, Monday through Friday, from 9 m. to 5 , as reported by MassLive.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

MassLive

Framing: The headline emphasizes the recall of Halloween Chocolatey Eyeballs from Massachusetts retailers TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Crystal Temptations of North Arlington, New Jersey, is recalling its Halloween Chocolatey Eyeballs because the treats contain undeclared milk allergens, according to an alert posted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The candies were distributed in Massachusetts and 12 other states at Marshalls, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Sierra Trading Post locations.
Individuals with an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk 'run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products,' according to the recall notice.
No illnesses have been reported as of Tuesday, Sept. 1.
The recall was launched after a TJX analyst discovered that the chocolatey eyeballs, which contain whey, were packaged without a label disclosing the presence of milk.
A subsequent investigation found that the labeling error was caused by a 'temporary breakdown in the company’s production and packaging processes.'
The recalled candies were sold under the Crystal Temptations brand in varying packaging sizes and styles.
Shoppers can identify the affected products by the style numbers listed on the labels, which include a 10-ounce plastic bag with a header card (54040-CHEY), a 7-ounce acrylic box (54077-CHEY), a 5-ounce round plastic jar (58008-CHEY), a 16-ounce designer plastic pouch (58089-CHEY) and an 11-ounce plastic bag tied with a tag (54083-CHEY).
The FDA urges consumers who purchased the recalled chocolatey eyeballs to destroy the product immediately.
Refunds are not available at store registers.
Instead, buyers are told to contact Crystal Temptations directly with proof of purchase to secure a refund.
The company can be contacted at 1-201-246-7990, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Read the source article →

Newsweek

Framing: The headline emphasizes the recall of Halloween candy sold at specific retailers in 13 states and mentions a map.

as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Crystal Temptations, based in North Arlington, New Jersey, is recalling certain packages of Little Temptations Chocolatey Eyeballs sold at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and Sierra stores in more than a dozen states because they contain milk that was not declared on the packaging.
The recalled products were distributed in 13 states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming.
No illnesses have been reported in connection with the recalled candy, according to the announcement.
The recall covers five different packages of Chocolatey Eyeballs: 10-ounce plastic bags with style number 54040-CHEY, 7-ounce acrylic boxes with style number 54077-CHEY, 5-ounce round plastic jars with style number 58008-CHEY, 16-ounce plastic pouch bags with style number 58089-CHEY, and 11-ounce plastic bags tied with a tag with style number 54083-CHEY.
The recall was initiated after a TJX analyst discovered that the Chocolatey Eyeballs contained whey, a milk product, despite packaging that did not disclose the presence of milk.
A subsequent investigation found that the problem was caused by a temporary breakdown in the company's production and packaging processes.
Consumers who purchased the recalled candies are urged to throw them out.
Customers should contact Crystal Temptations, with proof of purchase, at 201-246-7990 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimCrystal Temptations, based in North Arlington, New Jersey, is recalling certain packages of Little Temptations Chocolatey Eyeballs sold at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and Sierra stores because they contain milk that was not declared on the packaging.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC, MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
ClaimThe recalled Chocolatey Eyeballs were distributed in 13 states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC, MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
ClaimThe recall covers five different packages of Chocolatey Eyeballs: 10-ounce plastic bags with style number 54040-CHEY, 7-ounce acrylic boxes with style number 54077-CHEY, 10.5-ounce round plastic jars with style number 58008-CHEY, 16-ounce plastic pouch bags with style number 58089-CHEY, and 11-ounce plastic bags tied with a tag with style number 54083-CHEY.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC, MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
ClaimNo illnesses have been reported in connection with the recalled candy.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC, MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
ClaimThe recall was initiated after a TJX analyst discovered that the Chocolatey Eyeballs contained whey, a milk product, despite packaging that did not disclose the presence of milk.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC, MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
ClaimA subsequent investigation found that the problem was caused by a temporary breakdown in the company's production and packaging processes.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC, MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
ClaimConsumers who purchased the recalled candies are urged to throw them out.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC
ClaimRefunds are not available at the stores where the products were purchased.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC, MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
ClaimCustomers should contact Crystal Temptations, with proof of purchase, at 201-246-7990 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC, MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC
ClaimThe FDA urges consumers who purchased the recalled chocolatey eyeballs to destroy the product immediately.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via MassLive as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:18 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: MassLive, Newsweek 10 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01