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Answer key · for teachers
Figures as of November 14, 2026, from each chart's current data.
Chart 1 of 2 · Food and drug safety
The chart's answer: The FDA classified 77 food recalls for salmonella in 2025; the most since 2013 was 80 in 2016. Salmonella is a germ that causes food poisoning, often from eggs, produce, nuts, spices and pet food. 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 that names listeria too is counted on the listeria chart instead. Meat, poultry and most egg products are USDA's to recall and aren't included. The newest salmonella 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/salmonella-food-recalls-per-year
Chart 2 of 2 · Federal budget
The chart's answer: At the end of fiscal 2026 the federal debt was 125% of a year's GDP, everything the U.S. economy produces in a year. It fell from 96% in 1948 to a low of 32% in 1981, passed 100% in 2013 and jumped to 126% in 2020. This is total debt, including what the government owes its own trust funds, divided by GDP over the same fiscal year; it starts in 1948 because BEA's quarterly GDP starts in 1947, and recent GDP figures are revised.
When was the debt smallest compared with the economy, and when was it largest?
The debt can grow in dollars while this percentage falls. How is that possible?
Pick a big jump on the chart. What events could make the government borrow much more in a short time?
Source: U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data, Historical Debt Outstanding; GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA Table 1.1.5) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Sep 30, 2026 · chart.ly/charts/us-debt-as-share-of-gdp
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