Why is food recalled?
An allergen missing from the label is by far the most common reason: 2,501 of the 7,081 food recalls the FDA classified from 2013 through 2025, about 35%. Listeria (847) and Salmonella (757) come next. Chartly grouped FDA's written reasons by their key words; each recall counts once, under its first matching reason. 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.
- Allergen not on the label has the highest figure, 2,501, followed by Listeria (847) and Salmonella (757).
- E. coli has the lowest figure, 110, followed by Lead or other chemicals (198) and Other ingredient not on the label (sulfites, dyes...) (401).
- The highest is 23 times the lowest.
Source and date
- Data as of
- Published
Citation
Chartly. “Why is food recalled?” 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/why-is-food-recalled (accessed October 15, 2026).
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The data
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| Reason for the recall | Food recalls since 2013 |
|---|---|
| Allergen not on the label | 2,501 |
| Listeria | 847 |
| Salmonella | 757 |
| Metal, plastic, glass or other objects | 657 |
| Labeling, packaging or manufacturing problems | 564 |
| Other germs or toxins (botulism, hepatitis A, mold...) | 474 |
| Other ingredient not on the label (sulfites, dyes...) | 401 |
| Lead or other chemicals | 198 |
| E. coli | 110 |
| Other | 572 |
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