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Listeria, Salmonella Represent 40 Percent of FDA Food and Beverage Recalls in Last 20 Years

3d rendering of bacteria that looks like salmonella

A recent study published in Journal of Food Protection has analyzed two decades of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food product recall data, drawing conclusions from more than 35,000 product recalls.

For the purpose of the study, the authors submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to FDA for data on all agency-regulated food and beverage recalls occurring between 2002 and mid-2023, which they received and analyzed. The dataset included more than 35,000 individual product recalls from more than 10,000 recall events (unique food safety incidents, often including multiple recalled items).

Product recalls were caused by contamination (i.e., allergens, microbiological, chemical, foreign objects, and undeclared food colors) in 91 percent of cases and by processing issues in the remaining 9 percent of cases. Processing issues were caused by Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) issues, Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) issues, manufacturing problems, mislabeling or misbranding, improper refrigeration, and under-processing.

The vast majority—76 percent—of all 35,348 recalls were caused by microbiological contamination and allergens. Specifically, Listeria monocytogenes contamination was the most frequent cause of recalls (7,844 recalls), representing 22 percent of total recalls and 45 percent of microbiological contamination recalls. Salmonella caused 6,597 recalls, accounting for 18 percent of total recalls and 38 percent of microbiological recalls. Together, the two pathogens totaled 40 percent of all recalls.

Allergens represented 28 percent of all product recalls, mostly due to undeclared milk/whey (3,571 recalls, or 36 percent of allergen recalls), followed by eggs (1,405 or 14 percent), undeclared wheat (1,306 or 13 percent), and peanuts (1,226 or 12 percent).

FDA classifies recalls as Class I, Class II, or Class III based on the potential severity of impact to public health. More than half of all recalls were Class I.

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Bailee Henderson is the Director of Content Strategy for Food Safety Magazine. In the day-to-day, she covers industry-relevant current events, regulatory affairs, and scientific developments. She also produces the Food Safety Five Newsreel and edits the twice-weekly Food Safety Digest newsletter. Notably, Bailee's coverage for Food Safety Magazine has been featured in national televised news segments including CBS Sunday Morning and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show. She can be reached at hendersonb@bnpmedia.com.