Charts to read and discuss

Chart 1 of 2 · Food and drug safety

How many food recalls are for undeclared allergens each year?

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.

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

Questions

1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Chart and numbers: chart.ly/charts/food-allergen-recalls-per-year · More free charts at chart.ly

Chart 2 of 2 · Road safety

Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

In 2024 there were 1.19 deaths for every 100 million miles driven, down from 3.35 in 1980. The lowest rate was 1.08 in 2014; it jumped to 1.34 in 2020, when people drove less but deaths rose. Miles driven are the Federal Highway Administration's estimates.

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and FHWA Highway Statistics (table VM-2) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024

How to read this chart

Each point is the number of people killed in traffic crashes for every 100 million miles Americans drove that year. Dividing by miles driven turns a count into a rate, so years when people drove more or less can be compared fairly.

Questions

1. About what fraction of the 1980 rate is the rate in the latest year?
2. In 2020 people drove less, but the rate went up. What could explain that?
3. Why is deaths per mile a fairer way to compare years than the total number of deaths?

Chart and numbers: chart.ly/charts/traffic-deaths-per-mile-driven · More free charts at chart.ly