You would expect buying a gallon of distilled water to be one of the safest and most uneventful purchases at the grocery store. There is no need to compare flavors or closely inspect ingredient lists for questionable additives.
That assumption has become far less certain for Midwest shoppers. On January 8, 2026, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it is tracking an ongoing recall involving thousands of gallons of distilled water sold in plastic jugs after a foreign substance was discovered inside some containers.
The recall covers 38,043 gallons of Meijer Steam Distilled Water packaged in one-gallon plastic jugs. According to the FDA, the water may contain a floating black substance. The agency has not yet assigned a classification to the recall, which means the potential health risk has not been fully determined.
What Shoppers Need to Know
Meijer initiated the recall on Nov. 13, 2025. The affected one-gallon jugs have red caps and can be identified by the barcode UPC 041250841197, a best-by date of Oct. 4, 2026, and lot code 39-222 #3. The product ID is listed as 472859, with Meijer item code 477910.
Meijer sold the recalled water at its stores in six Midwest states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
The FDA advised consumers not to drink or use the water. Customers may discard the product or return it to a Meijer store for a full refund or replacement. The agency has not released additional information about the source of the contamination, and the recall remains under review.
The Stakes Are Higher with Distilled Water
Unlike spring or purified drinking water, distilled water serves specific medical purposes where purity is not optional but essential. The CDC explicitly warns people to use only distilled, sterile, or boiled water in neti pots for sinus rinses, as tap water can contain brain-eating amoebas.
Manufacturers of CPAP machines strongly recommend distilled water for humidifier chambers that help sleep apnea patients breathe at night. Using tap water can cause mineral buildup, damage equipment, and encourage bacterial growth. The same concerns apply to humidifiers and other medical devices.
When consumers buy distilled water, they are paying for purity. It is meant to be water reduced to H2O and nothing more. When a floating black foreign substance appears in a product marketed as the cleanest water available, it undermines the very reason people choose distilled water in the first place.
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