SILVER SPRING, Md. -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a mandatory recall April 3 of all food products containing powdered kratom manufactured, processed, packed or held by Triangle Pharmanaturals LLC after several of the products were found to contain salmonella.
This is the first time the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a mandatory recall. It took action after Las Vegas-based Triangle Pharmanaturals failed to cooperate with its request to conduct a voluntary recall.
The FDA is advising consumers to discard all products that are part of the mandatory recall, including, but not limited to, Raw Form Organics Maeng Da Kratom Emerald Green, Raw Form Organics Maeng Da Kratom Ivory White and Raw Form Organics Maeng Da Kratom Ruby Red.
Kratom is a plant that grows naturally in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is legal under federal law and many state laws, and it can be purchased on the internet and from some smoke shops and convenience stores. The FDA, however, has received reports about the safety of kratom, including deaths associated with its use. The FDA said there is strong evidence that kratom affects the same opioid brain receptors as morphine and appears to have properties that expose people to the risks of addiction, abuse and dependence.
“We continue to have serious concerns about the safety of any kratom-containing product and we are pursuing these concerns separately. But the action today is based on the risks posed by the contamination of this particular product with a potentially dangerous pathogen,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
Two samples of Triangle Pharmanaturals kratom products sold through Torched Illusions, a smoke shop in Tigard, Ore., and collected by the Oregon Public Health Division, tested positive for salmonella, as did four additional samples of various kratom products collected by the FDA.
Numerous brands of kratom-containing products have been linked to a multistate outbreak of salmonella, but the strains found in Triangle Pharmanaturals’ products are not currently linked.
The FDA is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue to investigate the ongoing outbreak. It’s also working with companies notified of salmonella contamination who want to voluntarily recall their products in a cooperative manner. Those companies include:
- PDX Aromatics of Portland, Ore., which issued its second expanded recall March 22 in response to additional positive product samples of salmonella associated with PDX Aromatics’ products.
- Tamarack Inc. of Roy, Utah, which voluntarily recalled Eclipse kratom-containing powder products (pictured) on March 23.
- NutriZone LLC of Houston, which on March 29 issued a recall in response to positive product samples of salmonella associated with its products.
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