I started off this year’s state of the industry report by looking at the recalls on the USDA-FSIS and FDA Web sites. Comparing 2013 to 2015 there has been a 15 percent increase in the total recalls, but that in and of itself doesn’t tell the whole story. FDA recalls actually dropped 15 percent, while FSIS recalls increased by 107 percent over the same time period.
So what is driving the increase by FSIS? The number of recalls for misbranded product jumped from three to 17, recalls for no inspection jumped from five to 30, and recalls for undeclared allergens jumped from 28 to 63. Total recalls went from 72 in 2013 to 149 in 2015. If FSIS is asking you to do a recall it is more than likely a labeling issue. Over 50 percent of recalls are due to incorrect labels.