Viral and parasitic contamination in FDA food recalls

303 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 name viral or parasitic contamination. That is 1% of every food recall the agency has reported, and 71 of them are Class I. Data last updated 2 September 2026.

Records of 29,386

303

Share of all recalls

1%

Class I of 303

71

Reported between

2012 to 2026

What is different about these records

By product, Viral and parasitic contamination is weighted toward fresh produce: 69.6% of the records here against 23.5% across the corpus.

Recalls involving viral and parasitic contamination skew less severe than the corpus: 23.4% are Class I against 44% nationally.

A recall involving viral and parasitic contamination stays open a median of 180 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: 5.6% state nationwide distribution, against 20.7% across the corpus.

The volume is falling: 22 records in the three years to 2025, against 144 in the four before them. 2026 is excluded because the agency reports an enforcement action months after a firm begins a recall, so the most recent year is always incomplete.

Who got ill

Between 2012 and 2023 the CDC recorded 3,114 foodborne outbreaks attributed to norovirus, hepatitis A and Cyclospora. That is 34.5% of the 9,038 foodborne outbreaks in the dataset, and 8% of the 264 deaths in it.

Of the 60,452 people reported ill, 1.7% were hospitalised and 0.3 in every thousand died, against 7.6% and 1.7 in every thousand across every foodborne outbreak CDC holds. How much of the recall corpus a hazard accounts for and how much of the harm it accounts for are two different numbers.

CDC recorded the setting for these outbreaks as a sit-down restaurant in 1,587 of the 2,943 where a setting was named. An outbreak is recorded against where it was eaten as well as what was eaten, which is an axis an enforcement report has no field for.

What the FDA says

What Viral and parasitic contamination means in a recall record

Hepatitis A, norovirus and Cyclospora recalls trace back to a person or to water rather than to the process: an infected food handler, or produce irrigated or washed with contaminated water.

The firm with the most records of this kind is Fresh Express Incorporated, with 92. A high count usually reflects one event split across many product codes rather than many separate failures, which is why the table below is ordered by date rather than by firm.

The clause this maps to

A preventive controls plan covers viral or parasitic contamination under the clauses below. This is where the control belongs, not a finding against any firm named on this page: a recall record states a reason, and most of these recalls were initiated by the firm itself.

21 CFR 117.10

Personnel: the hygiene practices, and the exclusion of anyone with an illness or open lesion that could contaminate food, that a facility must require.

21 CFR 112

Produce safety: the agricultural water, worker health and hygiene standards for farms growing produce eaten raw.

21 CFR 117 subpart G

Supply-chain programme: the approval and verification a receiving facility runs on a supplier when the hazard is controlled before the ingredient arrives.

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 Express Incorporated92
• Springside Cheese Corp24
• Taylor Farms de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V.21
• Howard Calcagno Farms19
• Bauer's Candies, Inc.14
• Caito Foods LLC.12
• Leo Leo Gelato10
• Revive Organics, Inc.7
• Oregon Potato Company6
• The Kroger Co5
• Sammy Food Products LLC4
• Reser's Fine Foods, Inc.4

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.

• Florida101
• Oregon43
• California31
• Wisconsin24
• Kentucky14
• Indiana13
• New Jersey10
• Ohio5
• Hawaii5
• Virginia4
• Idaho4
• Maryland3

Most recently reported

Questions

How many FDA food recalls involve viral and parasitic contamination?

303 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 name viral or parasitic contamination, which is 1% of all of them. 71 are Class I, the class the FDA uses when there is a reasonable probability of serious health consequences or death.

What is Viral and parasitic contamination?

Hepatitis A, norovirus and Cyclospora recalls trace back to a person or to water rather than to the process: an infected food handler, or produce irrigated or washed with contaminated water.

Which clause covers viral or parasitic contamination?

A preventive controls plan under 21 CFR 117 covers viral or parasitic contamination under 21 CFR 117.10, 21 CFR 112, 21 CFR 117 subpart G. Personnel: the hygiene practices, and the exclusion of anyone with an illness or open lesion that could contaminate food, that a facility must require. This is where the control belongs; a recall record states a reason rather than a regulatory finding, and most FDA food recalls are initiated by the firm itself.

All FDA food recall data