Meat and poultry in FDA food recalls

1,624 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 involve meat or poultry, which is 5.5% of every food recall the agency has reported. 934 are Class I, and the median one ran 8 months. Data last updated 2 September 2026.

Records of 29,386

1,624

Share of all recalls

5.5%

Class I of 1,624

934

Reported between

2012 to 2026

Who got ill

The CDC recorded 634 foodborne outbreaks attributed to meat and poultry between 2012 and 2023, with 16,248 reported illnesses, 1,910 hospitalisations and 19 deaths. That is 7% of the 9,038 foodborne outbreaks in the dataset, and 1.2 in every thousand of those reported ill died.

The cause recorded most often was Salmonella enterica, in 237 of the 576 outbreaks where a cause was recorded at all.

The setting recorded most often was a sit-down restaurant, in 183 of the 580 where a setting was named.

What is different about these records

The hazard that separates Meat and poultry from the national picture is listeria monocytogenes: 46.5% of these records name it, against 25.5% of all FDA food recalls.

These records overlap heavily with prepared meals and sandwiches: 27.8% of them also fall under that category, against 7.2% across the corpus. A record can carry more than one category.

Recalls involving meat or poultry are more often the serious kind: 57.5% are Class I, where the FDA judges there is a reasonable probability of serious health consequences, against 44% of all records.

A recall involving meat or poultry stays open a median of 251 days between the report and termination, against 215 days for the corpus as a whole. Termination follows the firm accounting for every unit of the affected lot.

These recalls stay local: 11.6% state nationwide distribution, against 20.7% across the corpus.

The volume is rising: 480 records in the three years to 2025, against 340 in the four before them. A rise in records is not the same as a rise in hazards.

Why meat and poultry recalls the way it does

Most meat and poultry is regulated by USDA FSIS rather than the FDA, so a product appearing in this FDA dataset is usually a closed-faced sandwich, a product with meat as a minor ingredient, or a food FSIS does not claim.

Measured across these 1,624 records, listeria monocytogenes is the most frequent reason at 755, then undeclared allergens at 331. A record can name more than one hazard, so these overlap and do not sum to 1,624.

What goes wrong

• Listeria monocytogenes755
• Undeclared allergens331
• Salmonella172
• Foreign material79
• Chemical contamination30
• E. coli25
• Process deviation21
• Spoilage and mould18
• Clostridium botulinum17
• Viral and parasitic contamination9
• Unapproved ingredients5

The regulation that governs it

Most meat and poultry is outside 21 CFR altogether. Products with more than a threshold amount of meat or poultry are regulated by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture under title 9, inspected continuously, and recalled through FSIS rather than the FDA, which is why they do not appear in this dataset. What does appear is the FDA's share: closed-face sandwiches, products where meat or poultry is a minor ingredient, game meats, and products with less than the threshold amount, all of which are under part 117 like any other processed food. That jurisdictional split is why this category is small next to its share of what people eat, and why a reader looking for a beef or chicken recall should look at FSIS.

These are the parts of 21 CFR that bear on meat or poultry, reproduced in full on this site because title 21 is United States public domain.

• 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.

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.

• FRESH IDEATION FOOD GROUP, LLC dba Fresh Creative Cuisine197
• SunBurst Foods, Inc.78
• Fresh & Ready Foods LLC53
• Newly Weds Foods Inc53
• Bj Wholesale Club48
• Whole Foods Market39
• Let's Do Lunch, Inc.35
• Spartan Central Kitchen34
• Reser's Fine Foods, Inc.32
• Lipari Foods Operating Company, LLC.30
• Giant Eagle26
• Canteen Inc. dba MG Foods, Inc.24

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.

• California220
• Maryland217
• North Carolina126
• Michigan108
• Texas99
• Illinois90
• Pennsylvania83
• Massachusetts65
• Ohio62
• Washington57
• Oregon56
• Wisconsin53

Most recently reported

Questions

How many FDA recalls involve meat or poultry?

1,624 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 involve meat or poultry, which is 5.5% of all of them. 934 are Class I.

Why does meat and poultry get recalled?

Most meat and poultry is regulated by USDA FSIS rather than the FDA, so a product appearing in this FDA dataset is usually a closed-faced sandwich, a product with meat as a minor ingredient, or a food FSIS does not claim.

What is the most common reason for a meat and poultry recall?

Listeria monocytogenes appears in 755 of the 1,624 records in this category, followed by undeclared allergens with 331. A single recall can name more than one hazard, so these counts overlap.

How long does a meat and poultry recall take?

The median recall in this category ran 8 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.

All FDA food recall data