Natural Grocers Recalls Organic Mung Beans Over Glass: UPC, Dates

On October 22, 2026, Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc. of Lakewood, Colorado, announced a recall of Natural Grocers Brand Organic 2-Pound Mung Beans because of the potential presence of glass. The affected product has UPC 000080112600 and pack dates 26-160, 26-173, 26-196, 26-224 or 26-258. No illnesses or injuries have been reported to date, and shoppers are told to discontinue use and either discard the product or return it for a full refund or credit.

Key takeaways:

• On 10/22/2026, Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc. of Lakewood, Colorado announced a recall of Natural Grocers Brand Organic 2-Pound Mung Beans for potential glass contamination.
• The affected product has UPC 000080112600 and pack dates 26-160, 26-173, 26-196, 26-224 or 26-258, shown in the lower left corner of the label.
• The recall followed customer complaints about sharp glass fragments. No illnesses or injuries have been reported to date.
• Shoppers should discontinue use and discard the product or return it for a full refund or credit.
• The notice does not disclose an FDA recall classification, the number of complaints, the fragment size, the glass source, or the number of bags recalled.

What happened

On October 22, 2026, Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc., based in Lakewood, Colorado, announced a recall of Natural Grocers Brand Organic 2-Pound Mung Beans due to the potential presence of glass. The FDA published its recall notice the same day, listing the reason as "Possible foreign material contamination with glass." The notice states that the recall was made with the knowledge of the FDA.

The recall was initiated after customer complaints about sharp glass fragments in the product. The notice does not disclose the number of complaints, the size of the fragments, or the source of the glass.

What changed

The change is a recall covering five pack dates of Natural Grocers Brand Organic 2-Pound Mung Beans: 26-160, 26-173, 26-196, 26-224 and 26-258. The notice does not state how many bags or pounds were recalled, so the total volume is not known.

FDA's general recall definitions sort recalls into three classes. Class I covers a reasonable probability of serious adverse health consequences or death. Class II covers temporary or medically reversible consequences, or a remote probability of serious ones. Class III covers products not likely to cause adverse health consequences. These are general FDA definitions. The notice does not state which class, if any, applies to this recall, and this article does not assign one.

This article covers the recall notice only. It does not report any separate regulatory action on mung beans as a food.

Who is affected

The product in scope is Natural Grocers Brand Organic 2-Pound Mung Beans, UPC 000080112600, with pack dates 26-160, 26-173, 26-196, 26-224 and 26-258.

According to the FDA notice, affected lots may have shipped to Natural Grocers stores in 22 states, listed as AR, AZ, CO, IA, ID, KS, LA, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WI and WY. The notice says these lots began shipping on 6/10/26.

The notice does not disclose whether other Natural Grocers bulk legumes are affected, the supplier or grower of the mung beans, or the country of origin. It also does not say whether the beans were sold for sprouting. Shoppers with questions about a location, or about a location not on that list, can use the company contact details in the What to watch next section.

What it means for shoppers

The company's instruction is to discontinue use immediately. Shoppers can discard the product or return it for a full refund or credit. The notice does not state a refund deadline, so the company contact details in the What to watch next section are the place to ask about timing.

Because the notice does not describe fragment size, a shopper cannot judge from the outside of a bag how large a fragment might be. The notice also gives no guidance on inspecting the contents, so the company's refund instructions are the guidance this article can point to.

How do I check the pack date on Natural Grocers bulk mung beans?

The pack date is printed in the lower left corner of the label, and the five affected pack dates are 26-160, 26-173, 26-196, 26-224 and 26-258. Check that the UPC reads 000080112600 and that the pack date matches one of those five dates. If both details match, the bag is one the recall notice identifies, and the company's instruction is to stop using it.

The notice does not explain the pack date format, so this article does not interpret what the numbers mean.

The background

The recall began with customer complaints about sharp glass fragments, according to the company notice and the FDA listing. The FDA notice was published on October 22, 2026, the same day the company announced the recall. The notice does not disclose the number of complaints or where the glass originated.

FDA recall notices are one part of the agency's enforcement work. Enforcement can also take the form of warning letters about food-safety controls, as in FDA Warns Ocean Pride Seafood Over Raw Tuna, Smoked Salmon. A recall, however, is a company action announced in response to a specific product concern.

Readers who sprout seeds at home may want to know about a different recall. The notice for these mung beans does not say whether they were sold for sprouting, so do not assume either way. For a recall involving sprouting seeds and pathogen risk, see Todd's Seeds Alfalfa Sprouting Seeds Recalled: E. coli, Salmonella.

What to watch next

The notice offers a full refund or credit for the affected product, but it does not state a refund deadline. Shoppers with questions about a location, pack date, or refund can call the company at 303-226-1434, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain time.

The notice does not say when FDA might assign a recall class. Several details remain undisclosed:

• The FDA recall classification
• The number of customer complaints
• The size of the glass fragments
• The source of the glass
• The number of bags or pounds recalled
• The supplier, grower, or country of origin
• Whether other Natural Grocers bulk legumes are affected
• The meaning of the pack date format

For updates on any of these points, the company contact and FDA's recall listing are the places to watch.

What happens if you swallow glass in food?

The recall notice lists damage to teeth, laceration of the mouth and throat, and perforation of the intestine as possible injuries from ingesting glass fragments. The same notice states that no illnesses or injuries have been reported to date.

FDA's general guidance on hard or sharp foreign objects in food describes similar risks, including traumatic injury such as laceration and perforation of tissues of the mouth, tongue, throat, stomach, and intestine, as well as damage to teeth and gums. The guidance says special risk groups (infants, surgery patients, the elderly) may face greater risk. The guidance is available at CPG Sec. 555.425.

These statements describe what can happen, not what did happen in this recall. The evidence here cannot establish how any individual would respond to swallowing glass, and the notice does not describe outcomes beyond the injuries it lists. Anyone who has concerns after eating a food should contact a healthcare professional.

What is the FDA hard or sharp foreign object rule that applies here?

FDA Compliance Policy Guide Sec. 555.425 is the agency's general guidance on hard or sharp foreign objects in food. It states that FDA's Health Hazard Evaluation Board found objects under 7 mm rarely cause serious injury, except in special risk groups. For ready-to-eat or minimally prepared products, a hard or sharp object 7 mm to 25 mm long is considered adulterated under 21 U.S.C. 342(a)(1).

For products that need further preparation before eating, FDA considers whether that preparation could remove the object. The guidance was issued March 23, 1999, and revised in May 2005. This is general context only. The recall notice does not say whether these criteria were applied to this recall, and the fragment size was not disclosed, so readers cannot match the 7 mm to 25 mm range to this case.