Stewart’s recalls two ice cream flavors, wins 9 dairy awards

Stewart’s Shops is recalling half-gallon cartons of two ice cream flavors after a customer found a metal object in one, the company announced on Friday, Oct. 2. The recall covers Heavenly Medley and Vanilla-Chocolate-Strawberry half-gallons sold at every Stewart’s location in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire between July 17 and Oct. 2, according to the Times Union and NEWS10.

No injuries or illnesses have been reported, and Stewart’s said the company notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, NEWS10 reported. The same week, the convenience store chain, which lists a Saratoga Springs mailing address, picked up nine awards at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin.

What is being recalled

Check the freezer against these details, which come from the company’s recall notice as reported by the Times Union and NEWS10.

• Heavenly Medley, a chocolate ice cream with a marshmallow swirl, chocolate chips and chocolate-covered almonds, in half-gallon cartons with a best-by date of Feb. 10, 2027.
• Vanilla-Chocolate-Strawberry, the Neapolitan-style flavor, in half-gallon cartons with a best-by date of Feb. 11, 2027.
• The recalled cartons carry UPC 082086443711 or 082086443773, according to the Times Union.
• Only half-gallons sold between July 17 and Oct. 2 are part of the recall.

The recall is not tied to one store or one corner of the chain’s territory. The Times Union reported that the affected cartons were sold at all Stewart’s Shops locations, which means any shop in the three states could have stocked them.

The recall began with one customer’s report. Stewart’s said the customer found a metal object in their ice cream, according to NEWS10. The company has not said publicly what the object was or how it got into the product.

What to do if you bought one

Stewart’s asks anyone who bought either flavor during those dates not to eat it. These are the steps the company laid out.

• Check the flavor, the best-by date and the UPC on any half-gallon in your freezer.
• If it matches, do not eat the ice cream.
• Bring the carton back to any Stewart’s Shops location for a full refund.

The recall applies only to the two half-gallon flavors listed. Neither report described any other products, sizes or flavors as affected.

Nine awards at the World Dairy Expo

The recall landed in a week of good news for the company’s dairy products. At the 2026 World Dairy Expo’s Championship Dairy Product Contest in Madison, Wisconsin, held Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, Stewart’s won nine awards, including two first-place finishes, the company said in an Oct. 5 announcement. The contest drew more than 1,200 entries, according to Stewart’s. Entry was open to dairy producers from around the world, and judges reviewed 98 classes of products, from cheese and yogurt to butter, milk and ice cream, NEWS10 reported. Other entrants included Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Land O Lakes and Kraft Heinz.

Here is how Stewart’s placed, according to the company’s announcement.

• First place went to the Chocolate Dairy Shake in the open class for flavored milk and to Mango Dragon Fruit Sherbet in the sherbet category.
• Second place went to French Vanilla in French vanilla ice cream, Chocolate in regular chocolate ice cream and Raspberry Fudge Torte in frozen yogurt.
• Third place went to Bark in the Dark in dark chocolate ice cream, Mint Cookie Crumble in mint ice cream, Adirondack Bear Paw in the open class with nuts and Mousse Trail in the open class.

In the announcement, Stewart’s credited the skill and hard work of the local, family-run farms that supply Stewart’s milk, along with its other partners. Nine awards is fewer than last year’s haul: the company won 17 awards at the 2025 World Dairy Expo, according to Stewart’s.

A fifth straight state title for Stewart’s milk

A month earlier, Stewart’s won the gold medal in the 2026 New York State Dairy Products Competition for the fifth year in a row, the company said. The state Department of Agriculture and Markets announced the winners at the State Fair in Syracuse. Mint Cookie Crumble also won first place for best ice cream in the open class there, and Stewart’s took a silver medal for buttermilk.

The state contest is run by Cornell University and the Department of Agriculture and Markets, and 187 producers competed in 26 categories this year, according to Stewart’s.

Where the milk and ice cream come from

Stewart’s makes the milk and ice cream sold in the shops. The company says 21 locally run family farms produce milk for the chain, that the company’s dairy and ice cream plant is in Greenfield in Saratoga County, and that Stewart’s trucks deliver milk to all 400 shops within 48 hours of leaving the farm.

Our read: because Stewart’s sells ice cream from the company’s own plant in every shop across three states, even a recall tied to a single customer report reaches a lot of freezers. The best-by dates and UPCs are the quickest way to tell whether a carton at home is part of it.

Another local winner

Stewart’s was not the only Saratoga County dairy honored in Wisconsin. King Brothers Dairy in Schuylerville placed third in the unflavored half-and-half class, NEWS10 reported. The family-run farm delivers milk, eggs and meat to doorsteps around the Capital District each week, according to the farm’s website.

What happens next

These are the open questions on the recall.

• Whether Stewart’s or the FDA releases more about the metal object and how it got into the ice cream.
• Whether the recall stays limited to the two flavors and dates listed. We found no expansion as of Oct. 6.
• How many cartons come back to the shops, which the company has not said.

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