On July 22, 2026 the FDA closed its investigation into a Salmonella outbreak traced to moringa leaf powder imported from India: 131 people infected across 38 states, 36 hospitalized, no deaths. Recalls of dried greens powders kept coming after the case count stopped moving.
A count that changed five times
The FDA advisory page keeps every interim update, and the sequence is worth reading in order.
| Update | Cases | States | Hospitalized |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 14, 2026 | 45 | 21 | 12 |
| January 29, 2026 | 65 | 28 | 14 |
| March 17, 2026 | 97 | 32 | 26 |
| May 27, 2026 | 119 | 36 | 32 |
| July 22, 2026 | 131 | 38 | 36 |
The investigation closed on March 17 at 97 cases and reopened on May 27 after 22 more illnesses turned up in four states. Three serotypes ended up in the outbreak definition: Typhimurium, Newport and Richmond, with Richmond added late on genetic evidence. Of the 121 patients with information available, 36 were hospitalized, which is 29.8 percent.
First illness onset was August 22, 2025. The last was June 14, 2026. The outbreak ran 296 days, and the first public advisory came 145 days after the first person got sick.
Drying removes water, not Salmonella
Moringa leaf powder is dried greens, ground. Nothing in that sequence is a kill step, and the product that results sits on a shelf for years. The FDA put the consequence plainly in its March 17 update:
The products linked to illnesses in this outbreak have a long shelf life.
Recalled lots carried expiration dates out to January 2028. Laboratory work tied the chain together: of 12 finished product and ingredient samples that grew Salmonella, whole genome sequencing matched 11 to an outbreak strain. The FDA named imported Indian raw material as the source and raised import screening on moringa powder.
The recalls that were never part of the outbreak
The sharpest detail sits beside the outbreak rather than inside it. On June 30 the FDA reported sampling an ingredient supplier to Total Nutrition Inc. Two ingredient samples grew Salmonella, and neither matched the outbreak strain. The agency wrote it this way: “While not connected to the outbreak, these ingredients do contain Salmonella.” Two more products were recalled on that basis alone.
The weekly FDA Enforcement Report supports the same reading. Between October 24, 2025 and August 14, 2026, dried greens and moringa powders drew at least sixteen Class I recalls for Salmonella, from fourteen different firms. The three largest by volume, from Ambrosia Brands, Superfoods Inc. and MeriCal, account for 2,718,106 units on their own.
One firm, two recalls, adjoining lots
Lexunder Inc of Brooklyn, selling as Food to Live, went through the cycle twice. Its first recall started November 11, 2025: moringa powder and a SuperGreens mix, 860 units between them, lot codes SO-69006 through SO-72558. That recall was terminated March 11, 2026.
On August 7, 2026, 149 days later, the firm announced a second recall: eight product lines, 2,802 units, distribution in 40 states and the Virgin Islands. The trigger was an 8 ounce package of Organic Supergreens Mix, lot SO-77820, collected at retail.
The two lot lists meet end to end. The first stopped at SO-72558, and the moringa range in the second begins at SO-72558. Together the two recalls cover SO-69006 through SO-79374, a run of 10,369 consecutive numbers.
Four weeks from announcement to database
A recall becomes searchable only when it reaches the weekly enforcement report. Across the five greens powder recalls of summer 2026 the gap between the day the firm acted and the day the record published ran 33 days for Total Nutrition, 21 for Green Jeeva, 24 for Factory6, 33 for Lexunder and 26 for The Hampton Grocer. The average is 27.4 days.
That last entry shows where contaminated raw material ends up. The Hampton Grocer recalled 4,059 units of small batch lactation granola. Moringa powder was an ingredient, and the finished product does not look like a greens powder at all.
What it means for a grower who dries product
Drying and grinding your own microgreens into powder moves the operation across a regulatory line, and the line is drawn in the definitions at 21 CFR 112.3. Harvesting covers processed foods created by drying or dehydrating a raw agricultural commodity only when no additional manufacturing or processing follows. The same section lists the other side of the line by example: manufacturing and processing include “drying/dehydrating raw agricultural commodities to create a distinct commodity,” along with grinding, milling, mixing and packaging.
A tray of cut sunflower shoots is produce. The same shoots dried and milled into a jar of powder are a distinct commodity made in a facility, and the produce safety rule stops being the whole of the obligation. Where the thresholds and the qualified exemption sit for fresh product is covered in our piece on selling microgreens to grocery.
One more line from the record deserves attention. Every recalled product in this series was certified organic. Organic certification describes how a crop is grown and what may be added to it, and pathogens are outside its scope.
