Meal kits—consisting of portioned raw ingredients that are then assembled or cooked at home —have revolutionized the way we think about home cooking. These kits contain only the preportioned ingredients needed for a specific meal, as well as a recipe card with instructions suitable for the skill level of a home cook. With fresh ingredients and recipes curated by chefs, meal kits are advertised as a healthy, convenient, and sustainable option that reduces food waste. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced restaurants to shut down, the demand for meal kits increased. Following restrictions on indoor dining, many restaurants and grocery retailers adapted by selling meal kit take-out options. While food safety has long been integrated into restaurant and grocer regulations and trainings, as the use of meal kits continues to increase, it is important to be vigilant about ensuring that food safety protocols are carried over to the home as well.
Paralleling the increasing sales of meal kits, there was also an accompanying rise in food recalls by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) associated with meal kits. From 2016 to 2020, there were four meal kit-related recalls in 2016, one in 2017, two in 2018, one in 2019, and eight in 2020. Common reasons for recalls of meal kits included contaminated ingredients at the source, mislabeling, and contamination with foreign materials. Further, the top five violation categories cited by the FDA at food facilities generally in 2020 were foreign supplier compliance, hazard identification and control, pest infestation and control, manufacturing controls, and personnel hygiene.