Why Are These Organic Blueberries Making Me Ill?

I eat a lot of blueberries. Blueberry season starts in July and I pick a freezer-full until the farm runs out. Yeah, I have a small freezer. If I had one of those monster freezers, I'd fill one of those. That's how much I love organic blueberries. High in antioxidants, fiber, and nutrients, I indulge and don't feel guilty one bit.

I'm spoiled living just minutes away from one of the best and most trustworthy organic farms in the whole state, if not the whole country. I've witnessed first hand their chickens fertilizing the bushes. I've watched how they grow their gardens and maintain their farm so I know they aren't pulling a fast one on their customers with less-than-honest claims and slipping in conventional, non-organic methods.

But with expectations of quality, it makes store-bought blueberries seem very substandard. They are smaller, with questionable taste and texture, and well, horribly expensive. The price for u-pick, fresh organic blueberries is $2.00 per pound. For store-bought, fresh, organic is about $5.00 per tiny container, and frozen, organic is about $6.00 per pound. So when I run out of berries in December, I'm at a loss. I think maybe I just need to stop eating so many? Take a break and wait it out until next July. That never works. I start craving them. So I do the next best thing and shop the frozen food aisle.

Costco, our local, cheap, big-box grocery warehouse, carries some organic foods. Last year I discovered they have frozen, organic blueberries so I supplemented my winter fruit intake with store-bought. They were good. Never as good as fresh or even freshly-picked frozen, but still good. They cost just over $8 for 3 pounds which is suspiciously cheap, but Costco is all about saving money so I didn't question it.

This year when I ran out of fresh, frozen, again, I bought some from Costco. They were weird. They were dark, almost black. Were they that black last year? When they are cooked they still hold their shape which is odd. The taste...good god, they tasted like someone injected perfume in them! Whew! At first I thought maybe this is just the flavor and it's another variety of blueberry? Maybe African blueberries or South American blueberries? Taiwanese blueberries?

Then I started feeling sick. At first I didn't connect it to the blueberries. Sometimes it was a bit of a headache. Sometimes neck pain. Sometimes nightmares. These are common side effects of a chemical exposure. I did a few food elimination tests and sure enough it's the blueberries. During the third test I was experiencing all the above side effects with nausea, joint pain, stomach pain and then my colon started slowing down to a crawl. Whoa! Was I eating these blueberries last year when my colon stopped working????

I check the label. Sometimes companies change the recipe so it's a good idea to review the label every so often. Ingredients: Organic Blueberries. CERTIFIED organic. So what am I to think? Do I trust the label of a big-box, money-making machine? Or do I trust my instincts knowing myself and knowing the symptoms I experience with chemical exposures? Why do they taste so strong? Are they truly organic? Or are the berries organic with added flavorings or chemicals not on the label? They definitely don't taste like the organic berries I've been eating non-stop for the past five months. They don't taste like any blueberry I've ever had in my life!! Why am I reacting this year and not last year?

The scary thing is we really have no control over what we eat. What is being done behind the scenes? How many rules are being broken in order to make a profit? How would we ever know? My body knows. These blueberries are making me sick regardless of the reason.

I returned them to Costco. Costco is known for its very liberal return policy, but I know if one returns too much they will revoke your membership assuming you are not happy with their products which assumes the membership is not of value. I don't think I've ever returned anything, but I don't buy much especially in terms of food. Most of the food is not organic. The fresh organic produce is in large cases so for a single person unless I freeze it or can it which contradicts the whole concept of "fresh", it would go to waste. I normally don't trust big-box. Even when they say it's organic, one should take that with a grain of salt. My experience in the grocery industry taught me that.

The woman at the returns counter didn't seem very happy when I presented my cooler packed with ice and a bag of blueberries. She whispered something to the woman next to her which I thought was rude, but I think she just asked if it was returnable. She doesn't know about her own employer's very liberal return policy reputation? I thought everyone in the world knew.

"Was there a problem with the product?"

"I think there is. These don't taste like blueberries and they made me very sick."

She mumbled something under her breath. I said loudly, "Excuse me?"

"I've never heard that before." Bitch.

"Well, I considered just throwing it all away, but someone needs to know there might be a problem with this product." I wanted to scream THESE FUCKING ORGANIC BERRIES ARE ANYTHING BUT, however, I really have no proof of anything only my symptoms. I find in these situations it's best to maintain a level of sanity.

She didn't respond.

She gave me my money back for the one bag ignoring the receipt that clearly states I bought two bags. The second bag was the one I ate from so I didn't bring it in for return, but you'd think she'd ask about it. Customer service sucks at Costco.

So I'm writing this blog post just in case someone else out there had a problem with Kirkland Signature Organic Blueberries. I looked online. Found all kinds of Costco products that have been recalled, but nothing on the blueberries. Of course, my inclination is to assume I am the ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD with these reactions, but I have become very aware over the years there are thousands of chemically sensitive people out there with experiences just like mine and many of you, like me, can only tolerate organic food. If anyone has had a similar experience with this brand and these blueberries, let me know!

I decided to do one more test...buy frozen blueberries at my local co-op. They are beyond reproach and incredibly trustworthy. If their blueberries taste like perfume and make me sick, I'll conclude it's just me...maybe I am the only one reacting badly to blueberries! I purchased a one pound frozen bag of blueberries grown and packaged by Stahlbush Island Farms. They were $5.00 or twice as much as the Costco berries. The co-op no longer sells frozen bulk blueberries. After too many bad experiences I hesitated. I really didn't want to eat them, but felt obligated. No reaction, no illness. They were fine.

Pick One, Eat Two: U-Pick Blueberries

Hidden on the opposite side of the bush I could hear the two young boys discussing strategy as they picked blueberries, "I pick one, eat two." He snickered and popped a blueberry in his mouth to emphasize the point. I couldn't contain my laughter and the boys both looked at me wide-eyed through the bushes as if they had been caught red-handed. Too funny.


Ah, the joy of u-pick blueberries!

This little farm is truly organic - no question about it. It is owned and managed by this incredibly gorgeous and earthy man who is a professional landscaper and agriculturalist. He bought the farm about the same time I bought my house. Prior to his ownership, two elderly women had it for many years so the bushes are well-established and the farm well-known. It's been fun watching him develop it over the years. The first year he eagerly designed a Medicine Wheel Garden filled with herbs and a very elaborate organic vegetable garden. Then he added a large goat pen filled with goats.

The second year I vowed I'd never return. He has three large dogs. I made the mistake of setting my blueberry bucket on the ground, picked it back up and didn't notice the dog shit on the bottom of it. There is nothing more disgusting than dog shit all over your hands especially when you are harvesting food you will eat. He apologized profusely and claimed he searches the blueberry fields every morning to remove the large deposits of grossness. And of course, I couldn't use the soaps they had because they were scented. What the hell do I do? It disgusted me so much I didn't return for a year and told everyone I don't eat blueberries fertilized with dog shit. Unfortunately, there are no other blueberry farms in 100 miles that are organic, with the quality of berries, and so cheap. At the time he was charging only one dollar a pound. I ended up returning, but I NEVER set the bucket on the ground and I always wear farm boots.

The third year he added a huge chicken coop and lots of chickens. Some of them are very exotic looking. The chickens wander the blueberry fields eating bugs and naturally fertilizing the plants. Chicken manure is the number one most potent fertilizer (rabbit is second, horse is third), but this is the only efficient way to use it without the mess. One of those chickens attacked me, pecking at my ankles until I kicked at it a few times and chased it away. Jeez. Never a dull moment! Between the dog shit, chicken manure, and attack fowl, sturdy farm boots are a must!


The fourth year he started participating in the WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) which is an international organization for volunteer agricultural workers who want to learn about farming. They live and work with the farmer who provides room and board. From season to season, these volunteer workers travel from place to place, farm to farm. He had a young woman last year who told me when the growing season is finished here, she was going south for the winter to work on another farm in a much warmer climate. What a wonderful adventure!  This year he has roommates who are helping out instead.

The fifth year he found a baby crow and nursed it to health, hand feeding it hamburger once every hour. Edgar Allan Crow. HA! The sixth year when I came back Edgar Allan Crow would fly under the bushes and land at my feet waiting for me to feed him some blueberries. It was so freaky and surreal having a crow fly directly at you, like being in your own horror movie.

This is my seventh year living in the area and picking u-pick blueberries. The bushes were loaded, but unfortunately, he's only open on Saturdays this year which is why they were loaded, but that means the field is loaded with too many people. At one point there was no parking along his little driveway. That also means no ambiance. I can still hear people, but too much noise! People screaming and cackling at each other. A few were talking on their cell phones...no, screaming on their cell phones as if the whole field needed to hear their conversation. One woman was talking loudly and she had the speaker phone on so I could hear the person on the other end as well! One guy answered his phone, "Hello?" ten times!

"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...
"Hello?" ...

I wanted to scream at him GET A CLUE, IDIOT! NO ONE IS THERE! This didn't make for a relaxing time. The owner told me to call him next week because he does have some people who can't come on the weekends so he'll be open on one of the weekdays next week.

But I did hear conversations that were interesting, from religion to recipes to blueberry tricks to bee keeping. And the owner told me Edgar Allan Crow hasn't been seen since last fall. He assured me Edgar met up with crow friends and they flew south for the winter and are now tanning on a beach. He also told me he used to put a large stick in the back seat of his car, call Edgar who would jump in the car and go for rides. He'd drive to his grandparents house to pick apples, let Edgar out who would fly around then he'd call him back to the car, Edgar would fly back into the back seat for the ride home. Amazing. Also, they'd go in the woods mushroom hunting together and Edgar would find the mushrooms for him. How cool would it be to have a pet crow? He also said some berry pickers as well as neighbors didn't like Edgar and said he should kill him. Unfortunately, Edgar was way too friendly even with mean people. BUT he assures me Edgar is on a beach...in California.

I grew up with twenty blueberry bushes lining one of our fields. I can say now although we ate them every year, I took them for granted until I moved away from home and no longer had free access to organic blueberries! Finding a cute organic blueberry farm just a few miles from my home was a gift.  And these blueberries are like nothing I'd ever seen! Some of them are GIGANTIC, nearly an inch in diameter. And sweet!

I normally start picking the first day the farm opens and go back every couple days for fresh blueberries. Slowly I stock my freezer with the extras. There have been times the summers are so cold the season is very short so I don't procrastinate. Today I picked 25 pounds! My freezer is full and it didn't take any time at all.

Blueberries are extremely high in antioxidants. If you look online you'll see wild blueberries are only second to red beans and regular blueberries are about fourth on the list also after a variety of beans. Blueberries have the highest level of antioxidants of any fruit.

I eat them plain and frozen. I also make fruit smoothies with them and use them to flavor my banana-almost-like-ice-cream recipe. In my former, gluten-filled life, I also made blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, blueberry pie, blueberry-orange bread, blueberry cobbler, and a delectable dessert from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook called Blueberry Buckle. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Someone in the field today was talking about Blueberry Buckle!