Guide

Are food recalls going up?

Not steadily: the number goes up and down from year to year. The FDA classified 575 food recalls in 2025, up 25% from 2024. Since 2013 the yearly count has ranged from 420 in 2020 to 782 in 2016. The most common reason since 2013 is “allergen not on the label” (35% of recalls), and about 41% are Class I, the most serious kind.

Figures update themselves from 8 charts; newest data as of October 21, 2026.

FDA food recalls, 2025

575

Up 25% from 2024; 782 in 2016, the most since 2013

Food recalls, September 2026

46

Against 41 in September 2025

Class I, the most serious, 2013 to 2025

41%

2,885 of 7,081 recalls

Food recalls each year since 2013

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The FDA classified 548 food recalls in 2013, when its records in this form begin, and 575 in 2025. The busiest year was 2016, with 782, and the quietest 2020, with 420. Over 13 years the count has risen and fallen rather than climbing in a straight line.

A recall counts once however many products it covers, in the year the FDA first listed it in its weekly Enforcement Report, often weeks after the company announced it.

This year, month by month

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In September 2026 the FDA classified 46 food recalls, against 41 in September 2025. Since January 2025 the monthly count has ranged from 30 in May 2025 to 69 in October 2025, so one busy or quiet month says little about the trend. Months with five weekly reports tend to count more.

Why food is recalled

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The most common reason from 2013 through 2025 was “allergen not on the label”, behind 2,501 of 7,081 recalls, about 35%. Listeria (847) and Salmonella (757) came next.

In 2025 the FDA classified 63 recalls for listeria (the most since 2013 was 139 in 2016), 77 for salmonella (most: 80 in 2016) and 190 for undeclared allergens (most: 282 in 2017).

How serious they are

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Of the 7,081 food recalls from 2013 through 2025, 2,885 were Class I, meaning the food could cause serious harm or death, 3,616 were Class II and 580 were Class III, unlikely to harm anyone.

Which companies recall the most

Since June 2012, Whole Foods Market has had the most FDA food recalls (64), followed by Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. (41) and The Kroger Co (40). A big grocer or maker sells more products, so more recalls don't by themselves mean less safe food.

The numbers

Each year, newest first. A dash means no figure.

Are food recalls going up?: the numbers
Year FDA classified the recall Food recalls Food recalls for listeria Food recalls for salmonella Food recalls for undeclared allergens
2025 575 63 77 190
2024 461 66 39 160
2023 480 34 31 203
2022 438 44 47 163
2021 448 43 44 172
2020 420 45 41 154
2019 502 64 43 143
2018 578 71 67 221
2017 699 106 79 282
2016 782 139 80 248
2015 583 74 72 223
2014 567 49 75 189
2013 548 49 62 154

What these numbers can and can't tell you

These are FDA recalls only. Meat, poultry and most egg products are recalled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and aren't counted here.

More recalls don't necessarily mean food is less safe: better testing, such as whole-genome sequencing that links illnesses to a source, finds problems that used to go unnoticed, and a single outbreak can set off many recalls.

Chartly sorted the FDA's written reasons into plain words by their key words. When the FDA lists new recalls, the charts update themselves, and so does every number on this page.

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Sources

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 October 21, 2026, in these charts: