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Answer key · for teachers
Figures as of November 12, 2026, from each chart's current data.
Chart 1 of 3 · Food and drug safety
The chart's answer: The FDA classified 190 food recalls in 2025 for an allergen left off the label, such as milk, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, eggs, fish, shellfish or sesame; the most since 2013 was 282 in 2017. From 2013 through 2025, undeclared allergens were the most common reason food was recalled. A recall counts once however many products it covers, in the year FDA first listed it in its weekly Enforcement Report. Chartly sorted FDA's written reasons by their key words; a recall for a germ as well counts under the germ. Meat, poultry and most egg products are USDA's to recall and aren't included. The newest allergen recalls, this year's included, are listed below.
In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
Open question: answers will vary. Look for answers that use the chart's numbers and source.
Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?
Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Enforcement Reports (openFDA food recall data) (Public domain (U.S. government work); source U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA) · Data as of Nov 4, 2026 · chart.ly/charts/food-allergen-recalls-per-year
Chart 2 of 3 · Inflation
The chart's answer: The inflation rate was 3.7% in September 2026: how much consumer prices changed from the same month a year earlier. Each point makes that comparison, back to 1914, the first year BLS can compare. Inflation peaked at 23.7% in June 1920 and at 14.8% in March 1980; the 9.1% of June 2022 was the highest since 1981. Prices fell as fast as 15.8% a year in 1921 and 10.7% in 1932. BLS collected no prices in October 2025, during a lapse in federal funding, so that month and October 2026 are missing.
Find two times when inflation was highest. What was happening in the country then?
If inflation falls from 8% to 3%, are prices going down, or just rising more slowly?
Find a stretch when the line is below zero. Why might falling prices be bad news for workers and businesses?
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, all items) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Sep 30, 2026 · chart.ly/charts/us-inflation-rate
Chart 3 of 3 · World
The chart's answer: The world had 8.22 billion people in 2025, about 2.7 times the 3.02 billion of 1960. It passed 8 billion in 2023. Figures are mid-year estimates from the United Nations, which revises them as new censuses come in.
Judging from the chart, about how many years did it take the world to add its most recent billion people?
Is the line getting steeper or flatter in recent years? What does that tell you about the growth rate?
These numbers are estimates that the UN revises. Why is it hard to count every person on Earth?
Open question: answers will vary. Look for answers that use the chart's numbers and source.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators: Population, total (CC BY 4.0 (credit the World Bank)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025 · chart.ly/charts/world-population
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