Chart assignment

Charts to read and discuss

Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.

  1. How many food recalls are for undeclared allergens each year?
  2. How much rarer is each step up in earthquake magnitude?

Printable worksheet each chart with its source, date and space to write answers

Chart 1 of 2 · Food and drug safety

How many food recalls are for undeclared allergens each year?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

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.

Questions to discuss

  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?

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

Open the chart and its numbers
Cite this chart (MLA, APA, Chicago)

  • MLA

    “How Many Food Recalls Are for Undeclared Allergens Each Year?” Chartly, 4 Nov. 2026, chart.ly/charts/food-allergen-recalls-per-year. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

  • APA

    Chartly. (2026, November 4). How many food recalls are for undeclared allergens each year? [Chart]. Retrieved November 12, 2026, from https://chart.ly/charts/food-allergen-recalls-per-year

  • Chicago

    Chartly. “How Many Food Recalls Are for Undeclared Allergens Each Year?” Chart. Data from U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Enforcement Reports (openFDA food recall data). Updated November 4, 2026. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://chart.ly/charts/food-allergen-recalls-per-year.

Chart 2 of 2 · Earthquakes

How much rarer is each step up in earthquake magnitude?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In 2025 the world recorded 6,428 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 to 4.9, 1,983 of magnitude 5, 129 of magnitude 6, 15 of magnitude 7 and 1 of magnitude 8 or more. Each step up in magnitude is roughly ten times rarer, and releases about 32 times more energy. Countless smaller quakes go unrecorded worldwide, so the chart starts at 4.5.

How to read this chart

Each bar counts the earthquakes recorded worldwide in one year within a range of magnitudes. The bars start at zero. Each whole step up in magnitude releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 7 quake is far more than one step stronger than a 6.

Questions to discuss

  1. Roughly how many times more common is each band than the one above it?
  2. The biggest bars are hard to compare with the smallest ones on this scale. What other way could you show these numbers?
  3. The chart starts at magnitude 4.5. Why might smaller earthquakes around the world go uncounted?

Source: U.S. Geological Survey, ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat) (Public domain (U.S. government work); source U.S. Geological Survey) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025

Open the chart and its numbers
Cite this chart (MLA, APA, Chicago)

  • MLA

    “How Much Rarer Is Each Step up in Earthquake Magnitude?” Chartly, 31 Dec. 2025, chart.ly/charts/earthquakes-by-magnitude. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

  • APA

    Chartly. (2025, December 31). How much rarer is each step up in earthquake magnitude? [Chart]. Retrieved November 12, 2026, from https://chart.ly/charts/earthquakes-by-magnitude

  • Chicago

    Chartly. “How Much Rarer Is Each Step up in Earthquake Magnitude?” Chart. Data from U.S. Geological Survey, ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat). Updated December 31, 2025. Accessed November 12, 2026. https://chart.ly/charts/earthquakes-by-magnitude.

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