Thought Leadership

On January 14th, the CDC reported the conclusion of an outbreak of Salmonella Agbeni illnesses that initially began in November of last year. The outbreak of Salmonella – which can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps and can result in death if left untreated – was linked to four types of Duncan Hines boxed cake mix.

In October, the FDA released new draft guidance for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) on how to meet its seven key rules for ensuring the safety of our food supply. A month later, the nation was hit with yet another major food-borne outbreak – E. coli-contaminated romaine lettuce that killed five and sickened hundreds of consumers across 36 states.

With about nine new product recalls announced every day in the U.S., ensuring consumers are able to keep up with them, identify the products in their own homes, and take action to protect themselves and their families is one of the greatest challenges stakeholders face. Now, in an effort to “help consumers more quickly and accurately recognize recalled product,” the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued

Our Q2 2018 Recall Index found that recall activity in the food space increased in Q2, especially when it came to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food units, which rose more than 20 times over the previous quarter to nearly 213 million, mostly due to one large recall of salmonella-contaminated eggs. But other measurements also saw increases. It may come as a surprise, but those increases did not include the widely-publicized romaine lettuce issue.

There are dozens of food recalls issued every quarter in the U.S. alone. But despite the frequency of food recalls, there are a number of aspects many people – even industry leaders – may not realize. When consumers become ill, they typically think of the last food they consumed. But actually, it can take a couple of days for illness to begin. It can take even longer for medical personnel to determine the cause and report it to the proper authorities – sometimes weeks.