Natural Grocers Recalls 2-Pound Mung Bean Bags Over Glass Fragments

Natural Grocers Brand Organic 2-Pound Mung Beans are off shelves in roughly 20 states after customers reported finding glass fragments in the bags.

Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, the Colorado-based parent of the Natural Grocers chain, announced the recall on Thursday, October 22, according to a notice posted by the Food and Drug Administration. As of that date, no illnesses or injuries have been reported.

This is the third prominent glass-contamination scare to hit grocery aisles this year. Pillsbury recalled nearly 736,000 bread and roll products over possible glass contamination, and Trader Joe's pulled frozen chicken fried rice after reports of glass fragments. The mung bean case now extends the pattern into the organic staples category.

The FDA didn't soften its warning about the stakes. In its recall notice, the agency stated: "ingesting glass fragments may cause cause injury to the consumer, and these injuries may include damage to teeth, laceration of the mouth and throat, or perforation of the intestine." The risk is mechanical, not microbial — and that's exactly why the agency treats it seriously.

Which products are affected?

Only one product line is covered: Natural Grocers Brand Organic 2-Pound Mung Beans, sold in clear plastic bags. Two identifiers separate recalled lots from safe stock:

• UPC: 000080112600
• Pack dates: 26-160, 26-173, 26-196, 26-224 and 26-258

The pack date is printed in the lower left corner of the label. Shoppers holding a bag can check that spot in seconds — if the code matches any of the five listed dates, the product is part of the recall.

Where were the recalled beans sold?

The FDA announcement says the affected lots may have shipped to stores across a wide footprint of the American West, Midwest and South. The list includes 20 states:

• Arkansas
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• North Dakota
• Nebraska
• New Mexico
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Texas and Utah
• Washington
• Wisconsin

That distribution map covers nearly the entirety of Natural Grocers' operating territory, which means the recall touches the chain's core customer base rather than a stray regional batch.

What should customers do?

Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets directs customers not to consume any of the recalled mung beans. Instead, the company offers two options: discard the product, or bring it back to a store location for a full refund or store credit.

The refund path requires no receipt according to the company's guidance, and the discard path removes the product from circulation entirely. Either way, the operative instruction is simple: don't eat it.

Why glass keeps showing up in recalls

Three glass-related recalls at three major food brands in a single year is a pattern worth watching. Glass contamination typically enters the supply chain through brittle material — shattering equipment, packaging line breaks or raw ingredient handling — and it's nearly impossible to detect without inline screening like X-ray inspection.

For retailers, each incident carries direct costs: refunds, logistics, and the reputational drag of a FDA-listed safety alert. For shoppers, the check is cheap — read the UPC, read the pack date. If your mung beans match lot codes 26-160 through 26-258, the refund counter is the next stop.