Class I · Recall · initiated April 8, 2026 · Terminated
Pure Ground Ingredients recalls bulk peppermint leaf powder for possible Salmonella
A Minden, Nevada botanical supplier recalled 578 lbs of organic peppermint leaf powder sold in bulk boxes to tea and food manufacturers in California because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.
The record
- Firm
- Pure Ground Ingredients, Inc., Minden, NV
- Product
- Pure Ground Ingredients-Organic Peppermint Leaf Powder. wholesale bulk; tea/food manufacturers. Closed container stored in a cool settings at ambient/room temperature, free of direct sunlight. Packaging: Box with poly liner. Net wt: total produced 581 lbs. Firm Name/Address: Pure Ground Ingredients;
- Reason, as filed
- “Product has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.”
- Classification
- Class I (Class I: reasonable probability of serious health consequences or death)
- Recall number
- H-0853-2026
- Initiated
- April 8, 2026
- Posted by FDA
- May 20, 2026
- Status
- Terminated · Voluntary: Firm initiated
- Quantity
- 578 lbs (-pack size: boxes 16 @35 lbs and 1@18 lbs)
- Distribution
- Distributed to CA.
Verify: search any recall number above in FDA's enforcement report database.
Why it happened, in plain English
The filed reason: the product “has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.” The record does not say whether the powder tested positive or whether the concern came from upstream. The product description does say who it was for: “wholesale bulk; tea/food manufacturers,” in 35 lb boxes with a poly liner, all distributed in California.
In general terms, peppermint leaf is dried and milled, not cooked. Drying leaves Salmonella in place, and grinding spreads it through the lot. A tea blender that steeps the leaf in near-boiling water may get some reduction; a food manufacturer that folds the powder into a dry mix, capsule or confection gets none. Whoever bought these 17 boxes had to decide which of their products used them. The record lists the recall as terminated, so that tracing appears to have been done.
Who else should care
Tea companies, supplement brands and confectioners that buy dried herbs in bulk: peppermint, spearmint, chamomile, moringa and similar leaf powders. Buying organic changes nothing about the pathogen risk. If you are in California and bought peppermint powder in spring 2026, this is worth a call to your supplier.
Check: whether your specification for dried leaf powders requires a validated pathogen reduction step, or whether you are relying on the supplier’s COA alone.
Written 2026-09-08. Analysis is editorial; the record above is FDA's.