The recall numbers for 2014 have been tabulated by the USDA. All total, there were 94 recalls in the year, totaling 18,675,102 pounds of products. Of those, 43 were due to an undeclared allergen in the product, leading to a recall of 6,147,288 pounds of meat.
While every recall is a frustrating, costly event, the ones tied to misbranded products have to be among the worst. Those six million pounds of food could have been eaten by an overwhelming majority of the American consumers with no ill effects. For the people with food allergies, though, a misbranded product can be a dangerous, even life-threatening item. If someone with a peanut allergy unknowingly ate a sausage that contained nuts and went into an anaphylactic shock, they could die if not treated quickly enough.