With each passing year, our industry applies lessons learned and seeks to create ever safer, more wholesome food. Certainly, there are many ways to measure the performance of industry. One effective way is to evaluate annual recall data. Doing so can provide interesting snapshots into the industry’s performance. In the following paragraphs, I offer insight into the primary drivers for recalls this year.
At presstime in mid-December 2018, there had been 120 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recalls in 2018, collectively totaling approximately 25.3 million pounds of product. That amounts to approximately one recall every three days. The largest recall (17.2 million pounds) involved raw beef and is believed to be the source of a large-scale Salmonella outbreak, which has resulted in 246 confirmed illnesses in 25 states. This recall is notable not only for its size, but also for the fact that Salmonella is not considered an adulterant in raw beef. So, 68 percent of the pounds of product recalled in 2018 stems from a single recall involving product potentially contaminated with a pathogen that is not an even an adulterant. The smallest recall was for three pounds. That recall involved chicken wraps that contained an undeclared allergen, milk.