Food Safety
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Safety
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • White Papers
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
    • Contamination Control
    • Food Types
    • Management
    • Process Control
    • Regulatory
    • Sanitation
    • Supply Chain
    • Testing and Analysis
  • PODCAST
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Food Safety Five Newsreel
    • eBooks
    • FSM Distinguished Service Award
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Videos
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • MORE
    • ENEWSLETTER >
      • Archive Issues
      • Subscribe to eNews
    • Store
    • Sponsor Insights
  • WEBINARS
  • FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issues
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Contact
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!

A Look Back at 2019 Food Recalls

March 17, 2020

For the fifth consecutive year, Food Safety Magazine has compiled a list of food safety recalls announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS).

While it’s always possible that some recalls may fall through the cracks, our tally confirms 337 recalls issued in 2019—212 by FDA and 125 by USDA FSIS.

Much like 2018, last year seemed to experience a heightened number of food recalls—so much so that there seems to be some level of fatigue. Let's start by taking a look at the obvious—romaine lettuce.

Romaine Lettuce in 2019
More than half of the year passed before any new romaine lettuce events were back on everyone’s radar. Then on Halloween, FDA announced that, for 6 weeks, they had been investigating a new outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 likely linked to romaine lettuce.[1] The news instantly went viral, prompting the public and industry alike to wonder why the investigation was not publicized and why no recall or warning of any kind was issued to protect consumers. 

And that was just the beginning.

Through the end of the year, there were more outbreaks. Some contaminated Fresh Express Sunflower Crisp chopped salad kits infected 10 people in the U.S. and Canada with E. coli O157:H7.[2] Then, a larger outbreak that sickened 167 people was traced back to romaine lettuce that was grown in the Salinas Valley, CA, growing region, prompting the CDC to issue a warning to U.S. consumers and retailers not to eat, buy, or sell romaine from that region. The Salinas warning—and the overall outbreak—lasted until early 2020.[3]

Leafy greens aside, there are plenty more food safety events that led to the removal of products from shelves. Again, just as in years passed, undeclared ingredients were at the forefront of food recalls in 2019.

Undeclared Allergens
It’s likely no surprise at this point that undeclared allergens accounted for most of last year’s recalled foods—52 percent of them to be exact.

• Milk - 49

• Tree nuts - 24

• Eggs - 21

• Soy - 15

• Sulfites - 13

Other allergens that prompted recalls included wheat and peanuts.

Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli
Approximately 60 food products were recalled in 2019 for Listeria contamination. The most implicated foods were fresh and frozen produce items, followed by ready-to-eat deli products, and eggs.

Next, Salmonella was the cause of 24 food recalls, mostly related to pet food and baby spinach.

While E. coli was the culprit in 21 food recalls last year, one difference to note is that various strains, other than O157:H7, have been associated with more recall notices than in the past. Here’s the 2019 breakdown:

• E. coli O26 caused nine recalls and all of those were linked to flour.

• E. coli O157:H7 caused five recalls, four linked to beef products and one linked to romaine lettuce.

• E. coli O103 caused four recalls linked to beef, bison, and sprouts.

• E. coli O121 caused one recall linked to bison.

• Two E. coli recalls linked to deli products and flour had no specific strain identified in their recall notices.

Foreign Material Contamination
Approximately 50 food products were recalled for possibly containing foreign matter. Nearly half of these were due to the presence of plastic in beef and not-ready-to-eat frozen snack foods. Metal was the second most commonly implicated foreign material in last year’s recalled food products.

Meat
Last spring, Tyson Foods, Inc. recalled more than 11 million pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip products that may have been contaminated with extraneous pieces of metal. The affected products, which were produced between October 2018 and March 2019, were said to contain metal fragments, according to consumer complaints. In response, the Tyson plant where these products were made discontinued use of the specific equipment believed to be associated with the metal fragments. Barbara Masters, Tyson Foods’ vice president of regulatory food policy, food, and agriculture, said that the plant would be installing metal detecting X-ray machinery to replace the plant’s existing system. The plant also planned to start using third-party video auditing for metal detection verification.[4]

Outbreaks of Note
According to CDC’s official list, 17 multistate foodborne outbreak investigations occurred in 2019. While these outbreaks were tied to everything from fresh produce to raw ground beef—and even one Listeria outbreak with no known source more than 2.5 years after the first confirmed illness was reported—last year’s list doesn’t top 2018, which had 24 outbreak investigations—the highest of any year since CDC’s tracking which dates back to 2006.[5]

The outbreak that appeared to have the largest, most wide-reaching impact in 2019 was a cyclosporiasis outbreak that sickened 241 people in 11 states. The Cyclospora cayetanensis infections that caused six people to be hospitalized, were traced back to a food commodity not commonly implicated in these sorts of events—fresh basil from Siga Logistics de RL de CV of Morelos, Mexico.[6]

How Will Recalls and Outbreaks Fare in 2020?
Plans focusing solely on the safety of leafy greens have been widely distributed, discussed, and critiqued. Most recently, FDA unveiled its 2020 Leafy Greens STEC Action plan, which is designed to help foster a more urgent, collaborative, and action-oriented approach. While the Produce Safety Rule under FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act has been in place for over 4 years, this new endeavor is a commodity-specific action plan that aims to advance work in three areas: prevention, response, and addressing knowledge gaps.[8]

A few weeks before FDA’s announcement, the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) published their own effort to address the recent foodborne outbreaks caused by romaine lettuce. LGMA’s work is centered around four main areas: stricter farming practices, farm worker training, in-depth review of best practices, and research initiatives.[9,10]

With leafy greens at the center of multiple foodborne outbreaks since 2017, it is no surprise that so many efforts are underway to better understand and approach how this commodity is grown and harvested. But let’s not forget that our food supply includes far more than leafy greens. What have you done lately to make food safer?

References

1. www.fda.gov/news-events/fda-brief/fda-cdc-and-other-health-partners-investigated-outbreak-e-coli-o157h7-possibly-linked-romaine.
2. www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2019/o157h7-12-19/index.html.
3. www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2019/o157h7-11-19/index.html.
4. www.tysonfoods.com/news/news-releases/2019/5/tyson-foods-voluntarily-expands-recall-ready-eat-chicken-breast-strips.
5. www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/multistate-outbreaks/outbreaks-list.html
6. www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/2019/weekly/index.html.
7. www.fda.gov/food/foodborne-pathogens/2020-leafy-greens-stec-action-plan.
8. lgma.ca.gov/news/romaine-lettuce-safer.
9. lgma-assets.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/downloads/What-is-Being-Done-2020.pdf.


Author(s): Food Safety Magazine

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • people holding baby chicks

    Serovar Differences Matter: Utility of Deep Serotyping in Broiler Production and Processing

    This article discusses the significance of Salmonella in...
    Meat/Poultry
    By: Nikki Shariat Ph.D.
  • woman washing hands

    Building a Culture of Hygiene in the Food Processing Plant

    Everyone entering a food processing facility needs to...
    Training
    By: Richard F. Stier, M.S.
  • graphical representation of earth over dirt

    Climate Change and Emerging Risks to Food Safety: Building Climate Resilience

    This article examines the multifaceted threats to food...
    Contamination Control
    By: Maria Cristina Tirado Ph.D., D.V.M. and Shamini Albert Raj M.A.
Manage My Account
  • eMagazine Subscription
  • Subscribe to eNewsletter
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Website Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Food Safety Magazine audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Food Safety Magazine or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • mold
    Sponsored byIFC

    Tackling Mold Remediation in Food Processing Plants

  • a worker in a food processing plant
    Sponsored byLPS® DETEX®

    How a Beverage Facility Improved Food Safety and Compliance with Detectable Packaging Solutions

  • Two men standing in a produce storage facility having a discussion.
    Sponsored byOrkin Commercial

    Staying Compliant With FSMA

Popular Stories

sunflower oil

Louisiana Passes ‘MAHA’ Bill Targeting More Than 40 Ingredients, Including Seed Oils, Dyes, Sweeteners

smoked salmon in oil

Study Shows Food Type Significantly Affects Listeria’s Ability to Survive Digestion, Cause Sickness

Justin Ransom and Denise Eblen

USDA-FSIS Announces Dr. Justin Ransom as New Administrator

Events

July 15, 2025

Hygienic Design Risk Management: Industry Challenges and Global Insights

Live: July 15, 2025 at 11:00 am EDT: From this webinar, attendees will learn the importance of hygienic design to ensure food safety and sanitation effectiveness.

July 22, 2025

Beyond the Binder: Digital Management of Food Safety

Live: July 22, 2025 at 3:00 pm EDT: During this webinar, attendees will learn best practices for the use of digital food safety management systems across industry and regulatory agencies.

August 7, 2025

Achieve Active Managerial Control of Major Risk Factors Using a Food Safety Management System

Live: August 7, 2025 at 2:00 pm EDT: From this webinar, attendees will learn about changes to the FDA Food Code, which now includes a requirement for FSMS. 

View All

Products

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

See More Products
Environmental Monitoring Excellence eBook

Related Articles

  • A Look Back at 2018 Food Recalls

    See More
  • A Look Back at 2018 Food Recalls

    See More
  • A Look Back at 2016 Food Recalls

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • 1444333348.jpg

    Handbook of Food Safety Engineering

  • 1119053595.jpg

    Food Safety for the 21st Century: Managing HACCP and Food Safety throughout the Global Supply Chain, 2E

  • 9781498721776.jpg

    Handbook of Food Processing: Food Safety, Quality, and Manufacturing Processes

See More Products

Related Directories

  • Instant Recall LLC

    Instant Recall™ provides "one-up, one-down” farm-to-fork recall execution, integrated with a majority of all food distribution centers in the US, who collectively service over 1 million “ship-to” locations. Combining the best practices of the largest food industry companies, Instant Recall automates best practice workflows, data analysis and regulatory reporting for Suppliers, Distributors, Food Service Operators and Retailers. Call us or visit InstantRecall.com to see why the food industry consistently chooses Instant Recall as their shared solution for food recall preparedness and recall communications.
  • Recall InfoLink Inc.

    Recall InfoLink is a subscription software that makes recall process management easier and more effective. The cloud platform enables companies across the supply chain to easily distribute recall information, track progress in real time, generate reports for compliance needs, and complete modernized mock recall exercises.
  • PATLITE (U.S.A.) Corp.

    Since 1947, PATLITE has offered state-of-the-art equipment for the process and industrial automation industries. Innovative and durable design, backed by years of industry experience and a strong commitment to safety and security, has made PATLITE the world's best known manufacturer of visual and audible signaling devices.
×

Never miss the latest news and trends driving the food safety industry

eNewsletter | Website | eMagazine

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing