Recalls are an integral element of the comprehensive food safety system in the U.S. Removing potentially life-threatening products from store shelves and home pantries is essential, and making this process more efficient for the food banks and pantries is vital. The modernization of the current recall system must be inclusive of the entire distribution chain—including the real "last mile." 

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)’s annual report for 2021–2022 summarizes the agency’s recent work on a range of significant food safety proposals, its monitoring and surveillance of the food supply, and its food recalls and food safety incident response.

Errors involving product contamination, misbranding, and undeclared allergens remain the three leading causes of food recalls. Since employees are the cornerstone for preventing allergen and gluten adulteration, providing proper training to staff can prevent errors that could lead to a recall.

In July 2022, FDA unveiled an enhanced Enforcement Report Subscription Service for recalls that allows users, including industry and consumers, the option to receive notifications of new and updated recalls of FDA-regulated products posted to the application using custom keywords.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded its internal review of the agency’s response to the U.S. infant formula supply crisis, which details key findings and recommendations that will allow the agency to respond more quickly during food safety emergencies.

Researchers from the USDA’s Economic Research Service and CDC developed a model that can be used to assess the value of state and federal foodborne illness outbreak investigations and subsequent recalls. The researchers demonstrated the replicability of the model using a 2018 Salmonella outbreak as a case study.

A report by the Finnish Food Authority summarizes the country’s recalls, foodborne illness outbreaks, and fraudulent activities for 2021. 

With nearly 500 food safety recalls occurring per year, it is difficult for consumers to keep up. Prevention of foodborne illness—the main goal of the nonprofit organization Stop Foodborne Illness—can be aided by the establishment of a faster, more efficient, and modernized recall system.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand has released data on recalls in 2021 and recall trends over the last decade, revealing a drop in recalls overall. Allergen recalls accounted for half of all recalls in 2021.

During the Thursday morning Town Hall at the 2022 Food Safety Summit, top food safety regulators from FDA, USDA, CDC, and AFDO discussed initiatives and advances in food traceability, food safety policy, recalls, pathogen monitoring, food safety culture, and a number of other timely areas.