Wise Wife Brand Ground Cinnamon Recalled in 14 States: The UPC and Date to Check

SLR Food Distribution Inc. of Hicksville, New York, is recalling Wise Wife Brand Ground Cinnamon sold in 14 states because the spice may contain elevated levels of lead. The company announced the voluntary recall on Oct. 29, 2026, in a notice posted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the jars to look for carry UPC 0688474302754 and a Best Before date of 4/25/2027.

The timing lands right before the busiest baking stretch of the year. The recalled containers reached stores between September 8, 2025, and June 28, 2026, so a jar bought last winter or early summer could still be sitting in a spice drawer, waiting for pumpkin pie or a tray of snickerdoodles.

What the Recalled Cinnamon Looks Like

According to the FDA recall notice, the product is a 110-gram, or 3.88-ounce, clear plastic container with a black screw-top cap. The UPC, 0688474302754, is printed on the back label along with the Best Before date of 4/25/2027.

The notice does not list a lot number, which makes the UPC and the date the two details that matter. A jar that matches both is part of the recall. A Wise Wife jar with a different UPC or a different date is not named in the announcement.

The recall drew wider attention when Delish reported on it Nov. 2, describing the 3.88-ounce containers and the 14-state footprint. Home cooks who keep spices stacked two or three deep may find it easier to pull every cinnamon jar to the front first, the way the shelf risers and labeled bins in these kitchen organization ideas are meant to keep the back row visible.

The 14 States Where It Was Sold

The company said the cinnamon went to retail and grocery stores in Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. That spread covers the Northeast, the Great Lakes, the Plains, the Mid-Atlantic and Texas.

Distribution ran for more than nine months, from September 8, 2025, through June 28, 2026. Ground cinnamon tends to sit in a cupboard far longer than fresh ingredients do, and a jar dated to expire in April 2027 would not look old to anyone glancing at it today.

Cinnamon is a fixture in the season’s signature desserts, from the spiced fillings in the pies that show up on Thanksgiving tables across America to coffee cakes and baked apples. A quick label check belongs on the prep list next to the other clever kitchen tricks home cooks lean on before a big cooking day. Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26 this year, and with the oven booked solid, as this guide to freeing up the oven this Thanksgiving lays out, nobody wants to discover a recalled spice halfway through a pie.

How the Problem Was Found

The FDA notice says the issue came to light after a sample was collected and analyzed by The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, a state research agency founded in 1875. The testing showed elevated lead levels in the product, the notice says.

Ground cinnamon is made from the dried inner bark of trees in the Cinnamomum genus, and the version on most American grocery shelves is cassia, according to the Wikipedia entry on cinnamon. The bark is dried, rolled into quills and ground, which is why a single jar can travel a long supply chain before it reaches a store shelf. It is also why one spice can turn up in so many December recipes, including a handful of the Christmas cookies families bake every December.

The FDA keeps company announcements like this one on its recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts page, where shoppers can search by brand or product name. The page is the central public list for recalls of foods the agency regulates, and it is worth a look before a big shopping trip.

What to Do With a Jar That Matches

The instructions are short. The FDA notice says consumers should not eat the product and should either throw it away or return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Stores that still have the cinnamon are asked to place remaining inventory on hold and follow the company’s recall instructions.

SLR Food Distribution can be reached at 1-516-437-3782, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time, or by email at [email protected], according to the notice. The company’s mailing address is 495 West John St., Hicksville, NY 11801.

The notice covers the spice itself and does not address foods already baked with it. Questions about anything beyond the jar go to the company line listed above.

A Quick Check Before the Holiday Baking

The check takes less than a minute. The UPC on the back label should be compared with 0688474302754, and the Best Before date with 4/25/2027. Both need to match for the jar to be part of this recall.

Cooks who decant spices into unmarked containers lose that label, which leaves the original packaging, a receipt or a store’s purchase history as the only way to confirm the brand. Anyone unsure whether a container came from Wise Wife can contact the company before using it.

Clearing a recalled spice out of the pantry now keeps it from ending up in a pie crust or a pan of cinnamon rolls later in the month. The recall applies only to the Wise Wife product with the UPC and date listed in the FDA notice, and no other products are named in the announcement.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Simon A. Eugster – CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons