Salmonella in FDA food recalls

3,642 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 name Salmonella contamination. That is 12.4% of every food recall the agency has reported, and 2,961 of them are Class I. Data last updated 2 September 2026.

Records of 29,386

3,642

Share of all recalls

12.4%

Class I of 3,642

2,961

Reported between

2012 to 2026

What is different about these records

By product, Salmonella is weighted toward nuts and seeds: 21.6% of the records here against 10.7% across the corpus.

Recalls involving salmonella are more often the serious kind: 81.3% are Class I, where the FDA judges there is a reasonable probability of serious health consequences, against 44% of all records.

Who got ill

Between 2012 and 2023 the CDC recorded 1,563 foodborne outbreaks attributed to Salmonella. That is 17.3% of the 9,038 foodborne outbreaks in the dataset, and 22.3% of the 264 deaths in it.

Of the 39,069 people reported ill, 17.9% were hospitalised and 1.5 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 400 of the 1,255 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 Salmonella means in a recall record

Salmonella is a bacterium that survives in low-moisture foods for months, which is why it appears in recalls of products that carry no water for it to grow in: nut butters, spices, flour and dry pet food.

The firm with the most records of this kind is Sunland, Incorporated, with 219. 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 Salmonella 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 117.135(c)(1)

Process controls: the controls that apply a treatment, such as a validated kill step, at the point where it reduces the hazard to a safe level.

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.

21 CFR 117.165(a)(2)

Product testing: testing as a verification activity, appropriate to the facility, the food and the nature of the preventive control.

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.

• Sunland, Incorporated219
• Newly Weds Foods Inc209
• Ashers Chocolates/Lewistown, Inc.87
• Harris Teeter83
• ELITE CONFECTIONERY LTD82
• Spokane Produce, Inc.76
• Gills Onions, LLC73
• Giant Eagle66
• The Quaker Oats Co.65
• McCain Foods USA63
• CHETAK NEW YORK LLC56
• Griffith Labs U.S.A.43

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.

• Illinois536
• California478
• Texas266
• New Mexico229
• Pennsylvania203
• New Jersey150
• Ohio145
• North Carolina127
• New York122
• Wisconsin113
• Oregon101
• Washington98

Most recently reported

Questions

How many FDA food recalls involve salmonella?

3,642 of the 29,386 FDA food recall records published since 2012 name Salmonella contamination, which is 12.4% of all of them. 2,961 are Class I, the class the FDA uses when there is a reasonable probability of serious health consequences or death.

What is Salmonella?

Salmonella is a bacterium that survives in low-moisture foods for months, which is why it appears in recalls of products that carry no water for it to grow in: nut butters, spices, flour and dry pet food.

Which clause covers Salmonella contamination?

A preventive controls plan under 21 CFR 117 covers Salmonella contamination under 21 CFR 117.135(c)(1), 21 CFR 117 subpart G, 21 CFR 117.165(a)(2). Process controls: the controls that apply a treatment, such as a validated kill step, at the point where it reduces the hazard to a safe level. 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