Hartley's Potato Chips Salt & Vinegar 4.5 oz and 2.5 oz bags Hartley's Potato Chip Co., Inc, Lewistown, PA Ingredients: potatoes, vegetable shortening, salt, lactose, sodium diacetate, salt, malic acid, sodium citrate, with not more than 2% silicon dioxide and partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil.

Hartleys Potato Chip Company INC recalled Hartley's Potato Chips Salt & Vinegar 4.5 oz and 2.5 oz bags Hartley's Potato Chip Co., Inc, Lewistown, PA in a Class I action — the FDA's most serious tier, reserved for products with a reasonable probability of causing serious health consequences or death on Aug 20, 2013.

The FDA listed the reason as an undeclared allergen: "Undeclared lactose (milk) in seasoning sub-ingredient used in the manufacturing of Hartley's Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips." Allergen mislabeling is the leading cause of U.S. food recalls, because a missing declaration can trigger a reaction in someone who reads the label and believes the product is safe.

Distribution was limited; the FDA record lists "Pennsylvania only." Single-area recalls still warrant a kitchen check for anyone who shops within that footprint. The recalling firm is based in Lewistown, PA. The recall covers 4549 bags; 722 lb of product. The FDA has Terminated this recall (first reported Oct 23, 2013), its final lifecycle state, indicating the agency considers the corrective action resolved. The historical record remains useful for tracking a brand's recall pattern over time.