Sauces, dips and condiments in FDA food recalls

2,884 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 involve a sauce, dip or condiment, which is 9.8% of every food recall the agency has reported. 1,287 are Class I, and the median one ran 6 months. Data last updated 2 September 2026.

Records of 29,386

2,884

Share of all recalls

9.8%

Class I of 2,884

1,287

Reported between

2012 to 2026

What is different about these records

These records overlap heavily with spices and seasonings: 19.5% of them also fall under that category, against 9.6% across the corpus. A record can carry more than one category.

A recall involving a sauce, dip or condiment stays open a median of 179 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.

Why sauces, dips and condiments recalls the way it does

Sauces and dips sit at the intersection of the acidified foods rule and the allergen rule: an equilibrium pH above 4.6 turns a shelf-stable product into a botulism risk, and the ingredient list is long enough that an allergen is easy to lose.

Measured across these 2,884 records, undeclared allergens is the most frequent reason at 893, then listeria monocytogenes at 798. A record can name more than one hazard, so these overlap and do not sum to 2,884.

What goes wrong

• Undeclared allergens893
• Listeria monocytogenes798
• Salmonella300
• Foreign material201
• Spoilage and mould91
• Unapproved ingredients43
• E. coli34
• Process deviation33
• Chemical contamination31
• Clostridium botulinum28
• Viral and parasitic contamination15

The regulation that governs it

A shelf-stable sauce or dip acidified to a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below is an acidified food under 21 CFR part 114. It requires a scheduled process established by a qualified person (§114.83), process controls including measurement of pH (§114.80), records (§114.100) and, under §114.89, a procedure for deviations that ends with the product held and either fully reprocessed or destroyed. A pH above 4.6 with a water activity above 0.85 makes it a low-acid food under part 113 instead, with a thermal process designed to destroy the spores of Clostridium botulinum. A refrigerated sauce is under part 117, and there the hazards are Listeria and allergens rather than botulism.

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

• 21 CFR Part 1148Acidified Foods
• 21 CFR Part 11761Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food
• 21 CFR Part 10150Food Labeling

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.

• Garden-Fresh Foods, Inc.121
• Pita Pal Foods LP71
• Reser's Fine Foods, Inc.70
• Creative Foodworks, Inc49
• FRESH IDEATION FOOD GROUP, LLC dba Fresh Creative Cuisine46
• Wienke LLC45
• Husky Ice Cream,Inc44
• Giant Eagle35
• Spokane Produce, Inc.30
• Queen Bee Gardens, LLC28
• The Kroger Co27
• Whole Foods Market27

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.

• California366
• Texas319
• Wisconsin259
• Washington221
• Oregon221
• Ohio164
• New York144
• Florida105
• Illinois94
• Minnesota85
• Michigan82
• Pennsylvania82

Most recently reported

Questions

How many FDA recalls involve a sauce, dip or condiment?

2,884 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 involve a sauce, dip or condiment, which is 9.8% of all of them. 1,287 are Class I.

Why does sauces, dips and condiments get recalled?

Sauces and dips sit at the intersection of the acidified foods rule and the allergen rule: an equilibrium pH above 4.6 turns a shelf-stable product into a botulism risk, and the ingredient list is long enough that an allergen is easy to lose.

What is the most common reason for a sauces, dips and condiments recall?

Undeclared allergens appears in 893 of the 2,884 records in this category, followed by listeria monocytogenes with 798. A single recall can name more than one hazard, so these counts overlap.

How long does a sauces, dips and condiments recall take?

The median recall in this category ran 6 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