How serious are food recalls?

Of the 7,081 food recalls the FDA classified from 2013 through 2025, 2,885 (about 41%) were Class I, meaning the food could cause serious harm or death, as with Listeria, Salmonella or an allergen missing from the label. 3,616 (51%) were Class II, and 580 (8%) Class III, unlikely to harm anyone. A recall with products in several classes counts in its most serious one. Meat, poultry and most egg products are USDA's to recall and aren't included.

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Key facts

Measure: Food recalls since 2013. Written from the data below.

  • Class II: could cause temporary or minor harm has the highest figure, 3,616.
  • Class III: unlikely to cause harm has the lowest figure, 580.
  • The highest is 6.2 times the lowest.

The bigger picture, in plain words: Are food recalls going up?

What was recalled lately? See every food recall in October 2026, or any month since 2020, in plain words.

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Source and date

Source
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Enforcement Reports (openFDA food recall data)
License
Public domain (U.S. government work); source U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “How serious are food recalls?” Chart. Data: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Enforcement Reports (openFDA food recall data), https://open.fda.gov/apis/food/enforcement/ (data as of December 31, 2025). https://chart.ly/charts/how-serious-are-food-recalls (accessed November 5, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly. Developers can also get them as JSON (how).

FDA recall class Food recalls since 2013
Class I: could cause serious harm or death 2,885
Class II: could cause temporary or minor harm 3,616
Class III: unlikely to cause harm 580

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