Report shows shortcomings in recall system
A new report says the federal government is announcing fewer food recalls, indicating the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is changing its approach.
The report from the nonprofit U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) said boosters are not being done in a timely manner when outbreaks occur.
“When a food safety problem is discovered, nothing is done to let consumers know. Under the FDA, companies are supposed to notify the FDA and issue a press release. Under the USDA, companies must notify the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). No one is required to contact grocery stores or restaurants. No one is required to notify consumers,” according to the PIRG report.
Not only are the recall procedures vague, but the process does not appear to impose any urgency on companies under FDA jurisdiction to issue recalls.
“It can take years from the first illness before regulators identify a product for recall in an effort to prevent others from getting sick,” the report said. PIRG Report said.
“The November recall of infant formula linked to a botulism outbreak took nearly two years; the February recall of additional frozen shakes linked to a Listeria outbreak took more than six years.”
The PIRG report uses a Listeria outbreak involving ready-to-eat pasta dishes as an example to describe some of the problems with the recall notification system in place.
In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the recall of three ready-to-eat pasta dishes due to the presence of Listeria. In September and October, there was a wave of additional recalls, with 15 additional products recalled.
The recalls were ultimately linked to an outbreak that began in August 2024. As of the last update in October 2025, there had been 25 hospitalizations and six deaths.
“Why did the first booster take almost a year? Why did some of the later boosters take three or four months? Could illnesses or deaths have been avoided if more information was available sooner?” » asks PIRG in its report.
The FDA doesn’t even issue public announcements for all potentially deadly recalls. In a January 7, 2025 email to US PIRG, an FDA spokesperson said: “The list on this page provides information gathered from company press releases and other public notices about certain FDA-regulated product recalls. Not all recalls are subject to press releases or posted on this page.
The PIRG report also addresses the societal costs of foodborne illness, citing USDA data that shows that medical care, lost productivity and premature deaths from foodborne illness cost Americans $75 billion annually. More than 16 percent of Americans are likely affected by foodborne illnesses each year.
“As thousands of people become ill each year from contaminated food, we should think seriously about what else can be done,” PIRG said in its Food for Thought 2026 report.
“We need to prevent the sale of contaminated food, identify problems more quickly when something escapes, and warn consumers when contaminated food hits store shelves. »
According to the PIRG report, approximately 320 recalls were announced in 2025, of which 48% were related to allergens or foreign objects and 31 were related to previously recalled ingredients.
“Companies issuing a recall should be required to attempt to contact consumers directly, not just notify the FDA or USDA and issue a press release to alert their distributors,” PIRG says. “Many food manufacturers certainly spend a lot of money marketing their products to us. What would you say if they spent the same amount that they spent selling the product to us, in order to notify us that it was recalled?”
The Food and Drug Administration’s delay of the traceability rule until July 2028 adds to the problem, PIRG says. The plan to have the rule take effect this year was changed by the Trump administration. Implementation of the rule has been pushed back to 2028.
