Amazon Broccoli Sprouting Seeds Recalled for Salmonella

On October 2, 2026, EAK Distribution LLC announced a recall of HOME GROWN Green Sprouting Calabrese Broccoli Seeds sold on Amazon. According to the notice, its seed supplier told the company that Salmonella was detected in a broccoli seed sample collected and analyzed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and that the seeds had been used by a sprout grower whose finished product was part of an FDA multistate outbreak investigation. EAK says there have been no reported illnesses from its product to date, and it urges anyone with the seeds not to use them and to dispose of them.

Key Takeaways

• EAK Distribution announced a recall on October 2, 2026, for HOME GROWN Green Sprouting Calabrese Broccoli Seeds sold nationwide on Amazon.com.
• The supplier first flagged bulk seed lot #W4105, then reported that FDA detected Salmonella in a broccoli seed sample it collected and analyzed.
• The recall applies to cream-colored 8-ounce pouches marked with UPC 850056627443 and embossed production lot code AUG172026.
• Consumers who purchased the product between August 20, 2026, and September 18, 2026, should immediately discard the seeds and request a full refund from Amazon.

What happened

On October 2, 2026, Casper, Wyoming-based EAK Distribution LLC announced a recall for an eight-ounce consumer package of HOME GROWN Green Sprouting Calabrese Broccoli Seeds Heirloom. The FDA posted the company's notice the same day, giving the reason as potential contamination with Salmonella.

The consumer packages were sold across the United States through Amazon.com between August 20, 2026, and September 18, 2026. According to the company announcement, EAK Distribution's seed supplier notified it that the seeds were identified as being used by a sprout grower whose finished product was part of an FDA investigation of a multistate foodborne illness outbreak.

The supplier initially cautioned EAK Distribution on September 16, 2026, that an issue might exist with bulk seed lot #W4105 and recalled that bulk lot. On September 17, all sales were halted. On September 28, 2026, the supplier told EAK Distribution that Salmonella was detected in the broccoli seed sample that FDA collected and analyzed. The company says it has ceased all production and distribution of the affected product.

What changed

Sprout recalls usually cover finished sprouts sold in stores. This one covers seeds sold directly to consumers for sprouting at home.

That matters because, as the FDA's produce safety guidance puts it, sprouts are grown from seeds "under warm and humid conditions", and "If just a few harmful bacteria are present in or on the seed, the bacteria can grow to high levels during sprouting, even if you are growing your own sprouts under sanitary conditions at home." Seeds sold for home sprouting were also recalled earlier this year in a separate outbreak: Alfalfa Sprouting Seeds Recalled in E. coli Outbreak.

The order of events is worth noting: the supplier recalled the bulk seed lot and EAK halted sales in mid-September, before the FDA test result was reported to EAK on September 28.

Who is affected

This recall specifically affects consumers nationwide who purchased the 8-ounce packages of HOME GROWN Green Sprouting Calabrese Broccoli Seeds on Amazon.com from August 20, 2026, through September 18, 2026. The recalled item comes in a cream-colored pouch with the UPC code 850056627443.

To identify a recalled package, check the top seal of the pouch, which is embossed with the production lot code AUG172026. That is the code to look for: #W4105 is the bulk seed lot EAK bought from its supplier, not a code printed on the pouch.

EAK says no illnesses have been reported from its product to date. The recall notice describes Salmonella as an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy people infected often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, and in rare circumstances the organism can get into the bloodstream and cause more severe illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis.

What it means for shoppers

If you have a cream-colored pouch of HOME GROWN Green Sprouting Calabrese Broccoli Seeds in your pantry, follow these steps:

• Check the top seal of the pouch for the embossed code AUG172026 and the UPC 850056627443.
• Do not use the seeds, and dispose of the product, as the recall notice says.
• Contact Amazon for a full refund.
• For questions, call EAK Distribution at 541-306-4278, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm PST.

The broader point for shoppers: growing sprouts at home is not a workaround for store-bought sprout recalls. Per the FDA guidance quoted above, contamination can start in the seed, and a clean kitchen does not stop bacteria from growing during sprouting.

The background

This is a follow-up to our earlier coverage, Broccoli Sprouts Salmonella Outbreak: 32 Sick in 6 States. In that investigation, which FDA was running at the time, the agency reported on September 24, 2026, that an outbreak of Salmonella Bovismorbificans had sickened 32 people across six states, resulting in three hospitalizations and zero deaths, with illness onset dates ranging from July 7 to September 3, 2026. That outbreak was linked to recalled broccoli sprouts grown by Evergreen Fresh Sprouts, LLC of Moyie Springs, Idaho, according to the FDA outbreak page.

The FDA's September 24 update said the agency was continuing its investigation to determine the source of contamination, but it did not mention EAK Distribution or seed testing. Similarly, EAK Distribution's October 2 recall announcement did not name the specific outbreak, grower, or seed supplier. So the two cannot be treated as the same investigation based on public information.

What to watch next

Key questions remain open because neither the company nor the FDA has disclosed the commercial identity of the bulk seed supplier that sold lot #W4105, the total volume of pouches distributed via Amazon, or whether that same bulk seed lot was sold to other consumer repackagers or commercial growers.

The serotype found in the seed sample has not been disclosed, and no public record says whether it matched any outbreak strain by whole genome sequencing. Any update would likely appear on FDA's outbreak pages.

The public record also has limits: the positive result was a seed sample FDA collected, not a test of every pouch. Separately, the FDA advises people who are more vulnerable to foodborne illness, such as older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, to avoid eating raw or lightly cooked sprouts of any kind.

Contamination like this never shows up on an ingredient list, so recall notices remain the place to check. For what is on the label, Aurascan is a free food-label scanner app in beta (iOS TestFlight, with a waitlist for other platforms) that explains every ingredient one by one with cited evidence and per-ingredient verdicts (Clean / Mixed / Flagged) instead of a single black-box score. Scan your next packaged food with the Aurascan app to see what is in it.