Fish and seafood in FDA food recalls

2,417 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 involve fish or seafood, which is 8.2% of every food recall the agency has reported. 963 are Class I, and the median one ran 5 months. Data last updated 2 September 2026.

Records of 29,386

2,417

Share of all recalls

8.2%

Class I of 2,417

963

Reported between

2012 to 2026

Who got ill

The CDC recorded 714 foodborne outbreaks attributed to fish, molluscs and crustaceans between 2012 and 2023, with 5,149 reported illnesses, 473 hospitalisations and 12 deaths. That is 7.9% of the 9,038 foodborne outbreaks in the dataset, and 2.3 in every thousand of those reported ill died.

The cause recorded most often was Ciguatoxin, in 172 of the 674 outbreaks where a cause was recorded at all.

The setting recorded most often was a sit-down restaurant, in 323 of the 664 where a setting was named.

What is different about these records

The hazard that separates Fish and seafood from the national picture is clostridium botulinum: 6.7% of these records name it, against 1.2% of all FDA food recalls.

These records overlap heavily with prepared meals and sandwiches: 12% of them also fall under that category, against 7.2% across the corpus. A record can carry more than one category.

A recall involving fish or seafood stays open a median of 166 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 fish and seafood recalls the way it does

Fish and fishery products are the one food category with their own HACCP regulation in the United States, 21 CFR part 123, because the hazards are species-specific: histamine in scombroid fish, ciguatera in reef fish, and Listeria in cold-smoked products.

Measured across these 2,417 records, undeclared allergens is the most frequent reason at 803, then listeria monocytogenes at 602. A record can name more than one hazard, so these overlap and do not sum to 2,417.

What goes wrong

• Undeclared allergens803
• Listeria monocytogenes602
• Salmonella182
• Clostridium botulinum163
• Chemical contamination121
• Foreign material110
• Process deviation50
• Spoilage and mould33
• Viral and parasitic contamination32
• Unapproved ingredients25
• E. coli20

The regulation that governs it

Part 123 is the seafood HACCP rule, published in December 1995 and two decades older than FSMA. §123.6 requires every processor to conduct a hazard analysis and, where a hazard is reasonably likely to occur, to hold a written HACCP plan; §123.11 requires written sanitation control procedures and monitoring of eight named sanitation conditions; §123.12 puts verification duties on importers; and subparts B and C carry the specific requirements for smoked fish and for raw molluscan shellfish, including the source controls of §123.28 that tie shellfish to the classification of the harvest area. A seafood processor complying with part 123 is not required to duplicate that plan under the preventive controls subpart of part 117.

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

• 21 CFR Part 12313Fish and Fishery Products
• 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.

• High Liner Foods Inc.107
• Albertsons Companies LLC67
• Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.59
• Garden-Fresh Foods, Inc.48
• Harris Teeter44
• Nutrition Resource Services, Inc.36
• Channel Fish Processing Co. Inc35
• Banner Smoked Fish Inc.33
• Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc30
• Reser's Fine Foods, Inc.27
• The Santa Barbara Smokehouse, Inc.27
• Whole Foods Market26

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.

• California386
• Washington239
• New York219
• Florida152
• Massachusetts128
• Oregon125
• Texas121
• New Hampshire108
• Idaho91
• North Carolina88
• Pennsylvania84
• Wisconsin73

Most recently reported

Questions

How many FDA recalls involve fish or seafood?

2,417 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 involve fish or seafood, which is 8.2% of all of them. 963 are Class I.

Why does fish and seafood get recalled?

Fish and fishery products are the one food category with their own HACCP regulation in the United States, 21 CFR part 123, because the hazards are species-specific: histamine in scombroid fish, ciguatera in reef fish, and Listeria in cold-smoked products.

What is the most common reason for a fish and seafood recall?

Undeclared allergens appears in 803 of the 2,417 records in this category, followed by listeria monocytogenes with 602. A single recall can name more than one hazard, so these counts overlap.

How long does a fish and seafood recall take?

The median recall in this category ran 5 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