Why food recalls are mounting this year
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From carrots to eggs to onions to milk and ice cream, food recalls have mounted this year.
The big picture: Food and cosmetic recalls, which the Food and Drug Administration categorizes together, nearly doubled from 2012 to 2024.
- During the 2024 fiscal year that ended in September, such recalls reached the highest level since before the pandemic, FDA data show.
- "This is going to continue to increase before it gets better," per Darin Detwiler, a Northeastern University professor and food safety advocate who said his son died as a result of an E. coli outbreak.
State of play: The rise in such incidents can partially be attributed to an increase in consumer demand for ready-to-eat foods and prepackaged meals, Detwiler told Axios in a phone interview.
- "With greater convenience comes more risk," he said. Those types of foods are often consumed without any additional cooking, which would potentially kill listeria, Detwiler said.
- "We're also dealing with a scenario where we're having increased globalization of food production, which not only creates more opportunities for contamination at multiple points in the supply chain, but it creates more scenarios where there's blind spots."
- Critical failures in sanitation inspections from the federal government are also an issue, he said, pointing to this year's Boar's Head outbreak.
By the numbers: There were 1,908 recalled food and cosmetics products in the fiscal year that ended in September, per FDA data. Another 263 have been issued so far in the 2025 fiscal year, as of Dec. 12.
- That's the highest number of recalls for the category since 2019, when there were 2,046.
Health impacts: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 48 million people get sick from food-borne diseases each year in the U.S. 128,000 of them are hospitalized and 3,000 die.
- More people die every year from food-borne diseases in the U.S. than in the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Zoom in: The 2024 recalls included a wide range of food products from vegetables to meat to apple juice, which sickened many people in the U.S.
- Notably, Boar's Head Provisions Co., Inc. recalled some 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products for possible listeria contamination this year. At least 57 people were hospitalized and 9 deaths were reported, per the CDC.
- Cases in an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders infected more than 100 people in 14 states, according to health authorities. Fresh onions were removed from select Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants as a result.
Zoom out: So who is responsible for food safety in the U.S.? It's complicated.
- Federal agencies are tasked with providing guidelines and regulations for food. A chunk of the responsibility also falls to the states.
- Within U.S. states, there are about 3,000 different jurisdictions for food safety, Detwiler said. "And not everyone's on the same page."
The bottom line: Detwiler emphasized that individuals need to be their own advocates in terms of food safety.
- If you think something is wrong with your food or how it's being handled, say something, Detwiler said.
Go deeper: Food recalls reach highest level since before pandemic
