As most of you know, ever since I began writing for Meatingplace in 2009, I have tracked religiously food product recalls and trends. These efforts culminated in 2021, when our firm officially released our Food Recall Reporter (www.foodrecallreporter.com), which contains data on all Class I, Class II, and Class III recalls since the year 2000. The dataset now tracks all recalls of food products, beverages, pet foods, animal feed, and dietary supplements.

In turn, at the end of each year, I typically write an article, using the data the firm collected and archived in the previous year, to assess and summarize the driving forces causing recalls of food products. We also typically examine quite closely the numbers and trends of recalls of USDA-regulated food products for the readers of this blog as well.

What we have found over the last few years is that the numbers of recalls of USDA-regulated products have dropped precipitously. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, for instance, there were 132, 125, and 124 (respectively) recalls of FSIS-regulated food products. More recently, in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, there we only 31, 46, 42, and 63 (respectively) recalls of USDA-regulated food products.

While I have routinely commended the meat industry for doing an incredible job in driving the overall numbers of food product recalls to the lowest levels ever, I was recently reminded by USDA that a separate food safety indicator is actually on the rise. Indeed, USDA has been increasingly using “Public Health Alerts” — as opposed to recall notices — to warn consumers about hazards associated with various USDA-regulated food products in the market. Public health alerts are increasingly being used by USDA to quickly inform the public about a potential health risk associated with a food product when immediate action may be required, but the conditions for a formal recall may not necessarily be met.

The circumstances in which Public Health Alerts vary, but they may be used in an instance where a product is suspected to be unsafe, but there isn't a confirmed link to illnesses or injuries. They may also be used in a scenario where a company refuses to recall a product that USDA believes should be recalled, but the company refuses to take action. Alternatively, if a potentially hazardous product is no longer available for sale, and a formal recall would thus be ineffectual, might issue a public health alert to warn consumers who might still have the affected product in their freezers.

In 2019, USDA issued only four Public Health Alerts for products believed to be associated with E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, and undeclared allergens. By contrast, in 2023, USDA issued 24 Public Health Alerts for offending issues which included pathogens, foreign materials, undeclared allergens, bloating, and process deviations. As noted above, while the total numbers of recalls in 2022 and 2023 were only 42 and 63, respectively, the total numbers of recalls and Public Health Alerts totaled 65 and 87, respectively.

So, moving forward, as we assess the progress and success of industry in producing safe products, we should always be sure to include in our analysis both recalls and Public Health Alerts. While recalls over the past years have been trending downward, the USDA Public Health Alert has definitely been on the rise.

The Rise of the USDA Public Health Alert

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