When food is recalled, it’s important to make sure you don’t have the item in your fridge or pantry, as it could be dangerous to consume.
“Food recalls are removals of foods from the market that are in violation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulations,” according to the FDA website.
The FDA is responsible for the regulation of all foods except for meat, poultry and processed egg products, which are regulated instead by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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There are certain foods that have historically been subject to being linked to serious illness.
Read more about recalls, what to do when one occurs and foods that have most commonly been linked to serious illness below.
- Why is food recalled?
- What food recalls should I look out for?
- What do I do if there’s a food recall?
There are several reasons why a food can be recalled, including bacterial contamination of food that could lead to sickness or possibly death when consumed.
Additionally, if a foreign object is found in the product, such as a piece of glass or plastic, a recall will ensue. If there is a failure to list an allergen in the food on the product label, this is another reason for a recall to occur.
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For the majority of cases, a food recall will be suggested by the manufacturer or distributor of the food, according to the FDA, but there are cases when the FDA will request or require one to be put in place.
Any time food is recalled, you should take the proper precautions to dispose of it, or return the product to keep yourself safe.
A variety of food items have a history of being recalled more than once and have been connected to serious illness.
A report was constructed by Consumer Reports, that looked at food recalls and foodborne disease outbreaks from 2017 to 2022. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FDA and the USDA was analyzed. In the analysis, foods which were recalled due to bacterial contamination were analyzed.
In order from most serious to least, 10 foods from the analysis were named to have been linked to serious recalls from 2017-2022.
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- Leafy greens
- Cheeses and deli meat
- Ground beef
- Onions
- Turkey
- Chicken
- Papayas
- Peaches
- Cantaloupe
- Flour
Leafy greens were recalled 50 times during this period, leading to the most deaths of any other food on the list, at 11, according to Consumer Reports.
Deli meat and cheese were subject to 122 recalls/outbreaks between 2017 and 2022, most often due to traces of listeria and salmonella. There were seven deaths associated with these recalls, according to the source, and there were a whopping 16,925,594 pounds of deli meat and cheese recalled during this time frame, according to Consumer Reports.
Ground beef was recalled 22 times from 2017-2022, most often due to E.coli and salmonella contamination, according to Consumer Reports. There were 12,744,438 pounds of ground beef recalled at this time.
While there were no deaths associated with onions due to bacterial contamination, it was linked to 2,167 illnesses, with the 13 recalls that occurred, according to Consumer Reports.
Turkey and chicken were both on the list for serious recalls that happened between 2017 and 2022. There was one death due to salmonella in turkey and two because of contaminated chicken. There were four recalls of each during the time frame analyzed, according to Consumer Reports.
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Papayas and peaches have also been subject to serious recalls/outbreaks, with papayas experiencing 12 and peaches with six. Salmonella in papaya was linked to 332 illnesses and two deaths, according to the source. There were 101 illnesses connected to salmonella in peaches.
Cantaloupe and flour rounded out Consumer Reports’ list, with four recalls for cantaloupe and 22 for flour. Cantaloupe is often recalled due to salmonella and flour recalls typically occur due to E.coli and salmonella.
If there is a food recall, first read through the recall notice.
Don’t eat the recalled food as you can become very sick. Most food recalls happen out of precaution, because there’s a chance for that specific food to be contaminated, according to Foodsafety.gov. Even so, it’s better to be safe than sorry and stay away from that food.
Don’t give the food to someone else, donate, or give to your furry friend, as it could make them sick too.
Instead, read the notice and determine what to do with the food. In certain cases, you can bring the food back to the grocery store for a refund, according to the source, or you will be instructed to throw the product away.
Once the food is out of your possession, either brought to the trash or grocery store, make sure you sanitize the area where the product was, according to the FDA.