By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
Would you like to know if a food product has been recalled due to contamination with Salmonella, Listeria, or other concerns? Are you interested in knowing if a product was incorrectly produced so that it has nuts or eggs or other ingredients in it even though the label does not list these ingredients?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, consider signing up for FDA’s Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts. When an alert is issued, you’ll get an email. To sign up, go to Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts and fill in your email. On the next page, under Recalls and Safety Alerts, select FDA Foodborne Illness Outbreak Investigation if you’re interested in learning about products contaminated with bacteria and other substances. Select Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts if you’re interested in learning about products that have been recalled for labeling and other issues. Once you’ve made your choices, click submit.
Alternatively, you can go to FDA’s Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts page and search for recalls by product type (for example, Food & Beverages). You can then select the Brand Name to read more details about the recall. This could provide useful information for someone following a vegan diet or who has food allergies. In the past, I’ve learned of seemingly vegan products including pretzels and dark chocolate where a batch of the product that contained cow’s milk was distributed in packaging that did not reveal the presence of cow’s milk.
To read more about food labeling by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) see:
Allergy Information on Food Labels
What’s Going On with Daily Values on Food Labels?