Almost 18.7m pounds of products were recalled last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS).
Summary
Recall Summary for Calendar Year 2014
Total Number of Recalls 94
Number of Pounds Recalled 18,675,102
Recalls by Class (N=94)
Class I 63 14,261,888
II 23 3,817,387
III 8 595,827
Recalls by Reason (N=94)
STEC* 5 1,840,533
Listeria monocytogenes 7 270,926
Salmonella 4 372,414
Undeclared Allergen 43 6,147,288
Extraneous Material 6 265,607
Processing Defect 4 59,203
Undeclared Substance 2 80,084
Other** 23 9,639,047
Recall by Species/Product (N=94)
Beef 22 13,232,176
Mixed 14 2,151,495
Pork 26 1,032,582
Poultry*** 31 2,230,901
Ovine 1 27,948
* “STEC” includes recalls due to Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). STEC organisms include E. coli O157:H7, E. coli O26, E. coli O45, E. coli O103, E. coli O111, E. coli O121, and E. coli O145.
**”Other includes producing without inspection, failure to present for import inspection, and labeling issues, among others.
***Poultry includes egg products.
Class I – A Class I recall involves a health hazard situation in which there is a reasonable probability that eating the food will cause health problems or death.
Class II – A Class II recall involves a potential health hazard situation in which there is a remote probability of adverse health consequences from eating the food.
Class III – A Class III recall involves a situation in which eating the food will not cause adverse health consequences.