When good and not so good things happen, my wife often asks me whether I want the “good news” or the “bad news” first. I always ask her to start with the bad news, hoping that the good news which follows will offset whatever consternation is caused by the negative reporting. Perhaps, I softly equate the idea of anticipated good news with the availability of aspirin often used to cure a headache — i.e, “the bad news is that you have a headache, the good news is that, if you ask nicely, I have Tylenol.”

With the first full quarter of 2023 behind us, the same appears to be true with this year’s recall statistics. While there is some not so great information with respect to recalls this year, there is a lot of news to be excited about. So, with that prelude, I’ll start by giving some background, and then sharing the “news,” both good and bad.

Background

When we look at recall statistics over the last 10 years, there has been an average of about 613 recalls of USDA- and FDA- regulated products each year. In turn, every year, there are approximately 303 recalls for undeclared allergens (representing approximately 49% of all recalls), 159 recalls for the presence of harmful pathogens (representing approximately 26% of all recalls), and 73 recalls for foreign materials (representing approximately 12% of all recalls). Notably, these numbers and percentages remain relatively consistent year-over-year, which is to say that there are relatively few anomalies.

The bad news

The bad news is that, so for this year, industry continues to struggle with allergen control in food products. Historically, the presence of undeclared allergens remains the leading cause of food product recalls and, unfortunately, the trends so far in 2023 remain consistent with previous years. In 2023, there have already been 76 recalls of food products for undeclared allergens. This means that industry is on track to witness 304 recalls this year for undeclared allergens, which is one more than the historical annual average of 303. Thus, industry should strive this year to do a better job.

The good news

Here’s were it gets exciting. So far in 2023, the food industry has a lot to be proud of. Notwithstanding industry’s mediocre performance in the undeclared allergens category, there have been only 102 total recalls this year, which puts the food industry on a trajectory this year of only 408 total recalls. When compared against the yearly average of 613, this could be a near-record setting year.

The news is equally impressive with respect to pathogen control. So far in 2023, there have only been 15 recalls announced for the presence of harmful pathogens. This potentially puts industry on track for only 60 recalls this year because of unwanted bacteria; when compared against the historical averages of 159, the current trend is stunning. Thus, industry should congratulate itself for a job well done!

Even with respect to foreign materials, industry appears to be doing very well. Compared to an annual average of 73 recalls per year for foreign materials, industry is currently on track this year to have only 52.

So, while not all news in the first quarter of 2023 is fabulous, most of the news is. In most years, seemingly unrelenting and unending food safety issues give industry migraines which are nearly impossible to escape. With that said, if industry can keep up the great work accomplished so far this year, I would hasten to bet that, at least in 2023, industry could likely soon put the aspirin away.

The good news and the bad

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