An Overview of Food Recalls from 2017-2020

By Adam Friedlander, MS, CFS, Manager, Food Safety and Technical Services, FMI

According to FMI’s 2020 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends Report, 91% of shoppers trust their grocery store to sell safe food. Still, the entire food industry continues to play an important role in protecting public health and maintaining consumer trust. The food industry works alongside the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as state and local regulatory partners, to produce safe, quality food for consumers. Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic—which caused supply chain disruptions and workforce shortages—the food industry worked bravely to ensure the safety and security of the nation’s food supply, while simultaneously working to maintain employee safety and health.

Recently, FMI published two reports that summarize FDA and USDA recall press releases from 2017 through 2020. While FDA and USDA recall press releases do not account for every recall or public health alert, they represent significant recall events that may potentially present a serious risk to the consumer or user of the product. FMI monitors and analyzes these publicly available resources from the agencies to better understand risks to the food supply and help the food industry advance priorities that improve food safety. 

Previously, FMI highlighted how undeclared allergens were the leading cause of food recalls. As observed in the two FMI recall reports, this trend continued for both private brand and national brand products from 2017 through 2020. Along with allergen labeling errors, there was a rise in the number of foreign material recalls in USDA-regulated products, and a rise in recalls due to Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in FDA-regulated products. 

The most important goal of product recalls is to quickly and effectively remove potentially harmful products from commerce. For recalls occurring after the product has been sold to customers, retailers and manufacturers share the responsibility for notifying customers and facilitating product returns. The food industry is committed to working with regulatory agencies, consumers and business partners to ensure potentially harmful products are removed rapidly from the marketplace, while prioritizing the prevention of mislabeling and contamination events that could lead to recalls or outbreaks. 

To learn more about FDA and USDA recalls since 2017, please download both recall reports and download FMI’s Guidance for Retailers: Product Recalls for information and resources on managing recalls. 

FDA Recalls

USDA Recalls 2017-2020

Guidance for Retailers: Product Recalls