Natural Grocers is offering a full refund or store credit on its 2-pound bags of bulk organic mung beans after customers reported sharp glass fragments in the product. The company behind the stores, Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets of Lakewood, Colorado, announced the recall on October 22, 2026, and the FDA posted it the same day. No illnesses or injuries have been reported.
The recalled item is Natural Grocers Brand Bulk Organic Mung Beans in 2-pound clear plastic bags, UPC 000080112600. The affected pack dates are 26-160, 26-173, 26-196, 26-224 and 26-258, printed in the lower left corner of the label. Those lots began shipping on June 10, 2026, and they were sold only in Natural Grocers stores.
Anyone in the 22 states who bought mung beans at Natural Grocers since mid-June has a quick job: find the bag and look at the lower left corner of the label for one of those five pack dates. The notice says to stop using the product immediately and either discard it or return it for a full refund or credit.
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The 22 states on the list
The company says the recalled bags went to Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. That is 22 states in all, and the FDA notice lists them as the distribution area.
Because the product was sold only in Natural Grocers stores, a bag bought at another grocer or online from a different seller is not part of this recall. The five pack dates, rather than a best-by date, are how a shopper tells a recalled bag from a clean one, since the announcement lists no best-by dates.
Why glass in dried beans matters
The recall began, in the company’s words, “after receiving customer complaints about sharp glass fragments in the product.” The announcement says swallowing glass could cause dental damage, lacerations of the mouth and throat, or intestinal perforation.
Dried beans are usually rinsed and soaked before cooking, but the notice does not suggest that any home method makes a recalled bag safe. Its instruction is to stop using the product, and that includes bags already opened or partly used.
How to get the refund
The notice offers two paths. A shopper can discard the beans, or return the bag to a Natural Grocers store for a full refund or credit. Questions go to the company at 303-226-1434, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Time, or to [email protected].
The announcement does not mention a receipt requirement or a deadline for returns. Calling the number before a long drive to a store is the simplest way to settle both questions.
A refund to track, not a claim to file
This is a store return, not a class-action settlement. There is no claim form, no claims administrator and no filing window in the FDA notice. The money comes back at the register as a refund or store credit, which means the work is remembering to do it and noting what was returned.
That is the difference from a settlement, where a deadline can pass unnoticed. A recall refund has no stated cutoff, but small amounts tend to be forgotten when bags sit in a pantry for months after an announcement.
Refund or store credit?
The FDA notice says “full refund or credit” without saying which one a customer gets or who chooses. That is the one open point for shoppers in the 22 states, and the company’s recall line at 303-226-1434 is the place the notice sends questions about it.
Got a recalled bag of Natural Grocers mung beans at home?
A recall refund is easy to lose track of. The bag may be in a pantry in one of the 22 states, the store trip can slide a week, and the notice names no deadline to keep anyone on schedule.
A recall refund is a refund to track, not a claim to file. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System gives it a claim log and payment tracker for noting the date a refund was asked for and the date it arrived, plus the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice when a real claim form does appear. The Excel tracker comes pre-filled with all 51 state unclaimed-property offices.
Log this recall refund in the Settlement & Refund Recovery System claim tracker →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
