An analysis of food recalls in the United States, 2002-2023

In a publication in J Food Protection on 11 October 2024 entitled “An Analysis of Food Recalls in the United States, 2002-2023” by DeBeer et al., the authors evaluated and summarized Food and Beverages (F&B) recalls managed or mandated by the FDA over the past 20 years. For each of the 35,000 recalls, the causes were separated into two categories: product contaminants or processing issues. The product contaminants category was further separated into five groups: allergens, biological contaminants, chemical contaminants, foreign objects, and undeclared food colors. Product contaminants accounted for 91% of the F&B recalls, while processing issues accounted for 9%. 76% of the recalls were due to biological contamination and allergens. Over half of the F&B recalls were Class I recalls, and biological contamination and allergens accounted for 96% of those recalls. Listeria monocytogenes was the largest cause, accounting for 7,844 recalls, totaling 22% and 45% of the biological contamination. Salmonella serovars were responsible for 6,597 recalls, including 18% of the total recalls and 38% of the biological recalls. Listeria and Salmonella serovars resulted in 40% of all F&B recalls. Overall, the pick of recalls happened in 2009. There was a decrease in recalls between 2016 and 2020, but there was an increase from 2020 to 2023. The L. monocytogenes peaks in 2015/2016 represented recalls of contaminated ice cream and fresh vegetable products, and the recall of contaminated Peanut Corporation of America products caused the Salmonella peak in 2009. @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X24001625?dgcid=raven_sd_aip_email

 

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