As a food industry lawyer, I tend to follow annual food recall statistics quite closely. When viewed over time, these statistics are a useful tool for objectively assessing, from a food-safety standpoint, where the meat industry is performing well, and where the industry’s safeguards are perhaps still lagging behind. By studying these statistics, food companies can do a better job anticipating and avoiding potential future problems, which in turn drives the total numbers of recalls down.
As far as recalls go, 2016 was a busy year. Through mid-December, were a total of 118 recalls involving approximately 51,134,084 pounds of FSIS-regulated meat products. The leading cause of recalls was for undeclared allergens. Repeatedly, companies failed to protect against cross-contact during manufacturing, or accurately declare the presence of allergens in their finished products. According to FSIS, most of these failures, which collectively led to more than 40 recalls involving nearly 1,000,000 pounds of meat products, were easily avoidable. So too, was one company’s failure to identify MSG on its product label, which led to the recall of an additional 549,539 pounds of chili products. FSIS will remain on the hunt for misbranding and undeclared allergens in 2017, and all companies should do a better job protecting and mitigating against such easily avoidable risks.