Teresa Murray
Consumer Watchdog, U.S. PIRG Education Fund
New report: 300-plus food recalls in 2023, highest since 2020
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CLEVELAND — In the last six months, lead-tainted applesauce has sickened at least 500 children nationwide and cantaloupe contaminated with Salmonella has led to 400 illnesses and six deaths. These are just two among hundreds of food items recalled last year. A new report released Thursday by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, “Food for Thought 2024,” found that food and beverage recalls nationwide increased by 8% in 2023. Meat, poultry and egg recalls through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hit the highest levels since before the COVID-19 pandemic, while recalls through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been roughly the same for the last three years.
“Most problems with food should be easy to avoid. Food producers and packagers just need to focus more on cleanliness and disclose allergens that could make people sick or kill them,” said Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog at U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “We should not have to worry about finding shards of metal and plastic or undeclared allergens in the food on our plates. It’s baffling that manufacturers aren’t properly inspecting equipment, testing food and properly labeling packages before they end up on grocery store shelves.”
The analysis found that almost half of food recalls last year stemmed from undeclared allergens. That category increased 27% over 2022, in part because as of Jan. 1, 2023, manufacturers must disclose sesame in their foods. Sesame is the ninth allergen that must be listed on food labels.
About a quarter of recalls happened because of Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli or contamination from other dangerous bacteria. Recalls caused by foreign objects such as glass, plastic or metal in the product dropped by 40% in 2023.
The total number of recalls under the FDA, which has jurisdiction over most foods, has been virtually unchanged for several years. But meat and poultry recalls under the USDA increased significantly in 2023 – by 31% compared with 2022. The total is still far below the reported numbers during the five years before the pandemic, but last year’s 89 USDA recalls was the highest since 2019.
“There’s a decent chance that you or someone close to you has become ill from food poisoning the last few years yet didn’t realize it unless the sickness was bad enough to see a doctor,” Murray said. “Food safety is really important. Contaminated cantaloupe, onions and peaches killed people last year and a wide variety of foods made more than 1,100 people sick.
Food for Thought 2024 examines three big problems with food safety: It takes weeks, months or years to track down the source of food poisoning. After a problem food is identified, recalls often take too long to issue because regulators can’t mandate them. And when recalls are announced, consumers often don’t find out about them in a timely fashion, if ever.
“Everyone needs to do better: food producers, regulators and lawmakers,” Murray said. “We shouldn’t have to worry that everything from soup to nuts could land us in the hospital.”