Ice cream and frozen desserts in FDA food recalls
1,740 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 involve ice cream or frozen dessert, which is 5.9% of every food recall the agency has reported. 1,094 are Class I, and the median one ran 7 months. Data last updated 2 September 2026.
- Records of 29,386
- 1,740
- Share of all recalls
- 5.9%
- Class I of 1,740
- 1,094
- Reported between
- 2012 to 2026
What is different about these records
The hazard that separates Ice cream and frozen desserts from the national picture is listeria monocytogenes: 58.2% of these records name it, against 25.5% of all FDA food recalls.
These records overlap heavily with milk and dairy: 80.8% of them also fall under that category, against 16.9% across the corpus. A record can carry more than one category.
Recalls involving ice cream or frozen dessert are more often the serious kind: 62.9% are Class I, where the FDA judges there is a reasonable probability of serious health consequences, against 44% of all records.
These recalls stay local: 14.1% state nationwide distribution, against 20.7% across the corpus.
A single recall here covers far more records than usual: 6.9 enforcement records per FDA event, against 3.7 across the corpus. The agency opens one record per product code, so this is a sign of broad product lines rather than of repeated failures.
The volume is rising: 213 records in the three years to 2025, against 155 in the four before them. A rise in records is not the same as a rise in hazards.
Why ice cream and frozen desserts recalls the way it does
Ice cream and frozen desserts are ready to eat and never cooked again, and freezing preserves Listeria rather than killing it, which is why a positive environmental sample in a frozen dessert plant becomes a recall rather than a corrective action.
Measured across these 1,740 records, listeria monocytogenes is the most frequent reason at 1,013, then undeclared allergens at 338. A record can name more than one hazard, so these overlap and do not sum to 1,740.
What goes wrong
- Listeria monocytogenes1,013
- Undeclared allergens338
- Foreign material107
- Process deviation52
- Salmonella28
- Spoilage and mould27
- Viral and parasitic contamination14
- E. coli9
- Chemical contamination2
The regulation that governs it
21 CFR part 135 is a standard of identity, not a safety rule: §135.110 defines what may be sold as ice cream and frozen custard, including the milkfat content and the requirement that the mix be pasteurised, and §§135.115 to 135.160 do the same for goat's milk ice cream, mellorine, sherbet and water ices. The safety obligations sit in part 117. For a frozen dessert plant the controls that matter are the sanitation controls of §117.135 for an environmental pathogen, because a freezer preserves Listeria rather than killing it, and the allergen controls for a mix that runs milk, egg, nuts and soy down one line. Mellorine (§135.130), sherbet (§135.140) and water ices (§135.160) are separately defined, and a product sold under one of those names that meets a different definition is misbranded rather than unsafe, which is a labelling recall of a third kind.
These are the parts of 21 CFR that bear on ice cream or frozen dessert, reproduced in full on this site because title 21 is United States public domain.
- 21 CFR Part 1356Frozen Desserts
- 21 CFR Part 11761Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food
By year
Counts are by the date the FDA reported the enforcement action. That date runs behind the date a firm started a recall, so the most recent year is always partial.
| Year | Recalls reported |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 53 |
| 2013 | 16 |
| 2014 | 140 |
| 2015 | 675 |
| 2016 | 79 |
| 2017 | 105 |
| 2018 | 243 |
| 2019 | 34 |
| 2020 | 16 |
| 2021 | 71 |
| 2022 | 34 |
| 2023 | 78 |
| 2024 | 90 |
| 2025 | 45 |
| 2026 | 61 |
Firms with the most records
A firm appears here because it reported recalls, which is what a working recall procedure produces. A high count frequently reflects a single event split across many product codes rather than many separate failures.
- Blue Bell Creameries, L.P.197
- Working Cow Homemade Inc.175
- Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams LLC137
- Numbskull LLC115
- Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream94
- Koogee-Queen Anne, LLC87
- Totally Cool, Inc.59
- Elevated Ice Cream Company53
- Husky Ice Cream,Inc44
- Silver Moon LP dba Loard's Ice Cream43
- ICE CREAM HOUSE36
- Kilby Cream35
Where the recalling firms are
The state is the location of the recalling firm, not where the product was sold. Distribution is recorded separately on each record.
- Washington368
- Ohio224
- Texas223
- Florida203
- California122
- Maryland95
- Kentucky88
- New York61
- Wisconsin42
- Pennsylvania36
- Iowa36
- Minnesota36
Most recently reported
Questions
- How many FDA recalls involve ice cream or frozen dessert?
- 1,740 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 involve ice cream or frozen dessert, which is 5.9% of all of them. 1,094 are Class I.
- Why does ice cream and frozen desserts get recalled?
- Ice cream and frozen desserts are ready to eat and never cooked again, and freezing preserves Listeria rather than killing it, which is why a positive environmental sample in a frozen dessert plant becomes a recall rather than a corrective action.
- What is the most common reason for a ice cream and frozen desserts recall?
- Listeria monocytogenes appears in 1,013 of the 1,740 records in this category, followed by undeclared allergens with 338. A single recall can name more than one hazard, so these counts overlap.
- How long does a ice cream and frozen desserts recall take?
- The median recall in this category ran 7 months from the date the firm initiated it to the date the FDA terminated it. Termination means the agency judged that all reasonable effort had been made under 21 CFR 7.55; it does not mean no product remained in circulation.
Every recall in this category began as a document somebody had to check against a clause. Krolda maps supplier documents to the clause they satisfy in FSSC 22000, IFS Food and 21 CFR 117, and routes the corrective action when the evidence is missing.
Early accessRecall records come from the openFDA food enforcement API, published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the public domain. Krolda adds the hazard classification and the clause mapping; neither is an FDA determination. Always check the FDA notice before acting on a recall.