The FDA still lists the Lundberg white jasmine rice recall as open. The case started on April 3, 2026.
The record remains classified as “ongoing,” which is why the story returned to national headlines five months later.
An open case does not mean the rice is still on sale. It means the FDA has not confirmed the recovery of all 27,324 recalled packages.
For a grocer, a distributor or a buyer, that difference matters.
Below are the official product details, the full list of states and the specific steps to check your inventory.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What the FDA Recalled and Why
The FDA enforcement record lists the case under number H-0767-2026. The recalling firm is Wehah Farms, based in Richvale, California.
Wehah Farms manufactures for Lundberg Family Farms. That is why the name on the record does not match the brand printed on the bag.
The stated reason for the recall is potential contamination with foreign materials. The company initiated it voluntarily. No illnesses have been reported.
The record does not identify what the foreign material is. The enforcement report describes the hazard only in general terms, so any specific claim about the contaminant goes beyond what the FDA has published.
The Official Recall Record
The FDA record includes the following information:
- Product: Lundberg Family Farms White Rice Jasmine, 32-ounce bag (2 lb / 907 g).
- Quantity recalled: 27,324 packages, or 4,554 cases at six packages per case.
- Recall initiation date: April 3, 2026.
- Classification date: May 7, 2026.
- Report date: May 13, 2026.
- Current status: ongoing.
How to Identify the Affected Bags
The recall does not cover the brand’s entire jasmine rice line. It covers two specific lots.
These are the four details that identify an affected bag:
- UPC: 073416040281.
- Lot codes: 260201MA and 260202MA.
- Best-by dates: 01FEB2027 for the first lot and 02FEB2027 for the second.
- Package size: the 2-pound bag only. The 7-pound size and the organic brown jasmine line fall outside the recall.
Lundberg stated that the incident was limited to a single production run. The record supports that account: two consecutive lots, two consecutive dates and one manufacturing window.
What a Class II Recall Means
The FDA classified the case as Class II.
This category applies to products that may cause temporary or medically reversible health consequences, with a remote probability of serious harm.
Class I, by contrast, applies when there is a reasonable probability of serious injury or death. This case sits a full tier below that category.
The distinction is worth knowing before answering a customer.
A Class II recall requires pulling the product and offering a refund. It does not call for communicating a health emergency.
The 12 States Where the Rice Was Distributed
The FDA record shows distribution in twelve states and no foreign distribution.
The Official List
- California
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Illinois
- North Carolina
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Why Some Outlets Reported 13 States
Several national publications reported thirteen states and included Louisiana and Virginia. The official record names neither. It does include Vermont, which those reports left out.
The difference matters for any store checking its exposure to the case.
When in doubt, the FDA record is the valid reference, not the press coverage.
Where the Product Was Sold
Wegmans notified its customers the day after the recall began. April coverage also placed the product on shelves at Walmart, Target and Whole Foods, though those chains issued no notices of their own.
Independent Hispanic grocers rarely appear on a distribution list like this one. National brands reach them through wholesalers rather than direct accounts.
When a rice program runs through a broadline wholesaler, the recall notice comes from that wholesaler or it does not come at all.
That is worth a direct question to the account rep. A wholesaler that cannot say which lots it shipped is the real gap, and it will show up again on the next recall.
What a Store Should Do With This Information
Pulling the product from the shelf does not close the case.
The FDA terminates a recall only after confirming that the firm made every reasonable effort to recover the product across the chain.
Until that happens, the case stays open in a public database. Anyone can search it, including a reporter or a customer.
Check Inventory by Lot
The check runs on codes, not on brand names. These are the four steps:
- Search the UPC in the point-of-sale system. UPC 073416040281 covers the entire affected run.
- Match the lots against receiving records. Only lots 260201MA and 260202MA apply.
- Extend the check beyond the sales floor. Backstock, overstock racks, the damaged-goods bin, returns awaiting credit and any pallet staged for donation all sit outside a normal shelf check.
- Request a written report from the wholesaler. Ask which lots shipped to the account and on what dates. That document serves as backup if the FDA runs an effectiveness check later.
What to Do With the Product You Find
Recalled product does not go back into inventory and does not go to a food bank.
The standard procedure is to separate it from the rest of the merchandise, label it clearly and hold it until the supplier gives instructions on final disposition.
Most wholesalers ask for a count by lot, and in some cases a photo of the product, before issuing credit. That count should be recorded before any case is moved.
Brief Staff Before Posting the Notice
The cashier gets the customer’s first question and needs an answer ready.
Three details cover it: which bag is affected, which lot codes apply, and that the store accepts the return.
Staff also need to know who to refer a question they cannot answer. One name is enough.
The notice belongs where customers will see it: the register area, the rice section and the customer service desk. In English and in Spanish.
A notice posted only on a corporate website does not reach the person who already has the bag at home.
On refunds, set one rule in advance and apply it to everyone.
A customer who finds the bag in the pantry bought it months ago and is unlikely to still have the receipt. Demanding proof of purchase on a four-dollar item costs more than replacing it.
What This Case Teaches About Open Recalls
A Class II recall on a shelf-stable product leaves a wide window of time.
The best-by date on this rice is February 2027, so the product can resurface for months.
A pantry staple also behaves differently from fresh product. A bag bought in March can sit in a cabinet all spring and get opened in September.
That timeline works against every shelf sweep. The April check covered the sales floor, but it never reached the bags already sitting in customers’ kitchens.
It also explains why the case still matters at the end of August, months after most coverage moved on.
The FDA Data on Product Still for Sale
During an infant formula recall, the FDA sent inspectors to more than 4,000 stores to verify whether the product had actually come off the market.
The result, published in December 2025, found recalled product still for sale at more than 175 locations across 36 states.
One retailer kept selling it three weeks after the recall began. Another put it on sale.
That case involves a different product category, but it shows the same problem: the notice circulates and the product stays.
How to Prepare Before the Next Notice
Rice, beans and tortillas anchor the U.S. Hispanic foods category, which a 2026 Stout industry update places above $40 billion.
A category that size generates recall notices regularly.
Regulation is moving in the same direction. The FDA’s traceability requirements under FSMA Rule 204 carry a compliance date of July 20, 2028.
Rice does not appear on the Food Traceability List, so this recall falls outside that rule.
But the habit the rule demands, keeping lot-level records you can pull quickly, is exactly what resolves cases like this one. The agency has also moved toward disclosing store-level information on food recalls, which narrows the space where a retailer stays anonymous.
Recalls also rarely arrive alone. Cases like the nationwide recall of vegetable products over listeria concerns in 2019 show how a single supplier can reach dozens of brands and chains at once. That recall covered more than 100 products sold under 16 brand names.
In the meantime, pulling the two lots, documenting the check and requesting the shipping report from the wholesaler handles the urgent part of the Lundberg white jasmine rice recall.
The next step is to build a product recall plan before the following notice arrives.