A new report shows that the number of food recalls issued by the federal government is decreasing, indicating that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is changing its approach.
A report by the nonprofit Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) found that recalls are not done in a timely manner when outbreaks occur.
“When a food safety issue is discovered, not much is done to ensure that consumers are informed. Under the FDA, businesses must notify the FDA and issue a press release. Under the USDA, businesses must notify the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). No one is required to contact the grocery store or restaurant. No one is required to notify consumers,” the PIRG report says.
Not only is the recall process vague, but the process does not seem to give companies under FDA jurisdiction the urgency to issue a recall.
“It sometimes takes years after the first illness occurs before regulators identify products to recall in an effort to prevent illness in others.” PIRG Report said.
“The November recall of infant formula linked to a botulism outbreak took nearly two years, and the February recall of frozen supplement shakes linked to a listeria outbreak took more than six years.”
The PIRG report uses the listeria outbreak associated with ready-to-eat pasta meals as an example to illustrate some of the problems with the recall announcement system currently in place.
In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a recall involving three meals of ready-to-eat pasta due to listeria. Additional recalls surged in September and October, with 15 more products recalled.
The recall was ultimately linked to an outbreak that began in August 2024. As of the last update in October 2025, there have been 25 hospitalizations and six deaths.
“Why did the first recall take almost a year? Why did some of the subsequent recalls take three to four months? Could illness or death have been prevented if more information had been provided sooner?” PIRG asks in its report.
The FDA also does not post public announcements about all potentially life-threatening recalls. In an email to US PIRG dated January 7, 2025, an FDA spokesperson stated: this page Provides information gleaned from company press releases and other announcements about specific recalls of FDA-regulated products. Not all recalls have a press release or are posted on this page.”
The PIRG report also discusses the social costs of foodborne illnesses, citing data from the USDA showing that medical care, lost productivity and premature deaths from foodborne illnesses cost Americans $75 billion each year. More than 16% of Americans are likely to get food poisoning each year.
“When thousands of people get sick every year from contaminated food, we need to think hard about what else we can do,” PIRG said in its Food for Thought 2026 report.
“We need to stop selling contaminated food, identify problems more quickly when something gets out, and warn consumers when contaminated food ends up on shelves.”
According to the PIRG report, approximately 320 recalls were announced in 2025, of which 48% were related to allergens or foreign substances and 31 were related to previously recalled ingredients.
“Companies conducting recalls should be required to contact consumers directly, as well as notify the FDA or USDA and issue press releases notifying distributors,” PIRG says. “Many food manufacturers are spending a lot of money to promote their products to us. Why not spend the same amount of money we spent selling them to tell you that their product has been recalled?”
PIRG argues that the problem is being compounded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) delaying traceability rules until July 2028. Plans to have the rule take effect this year were changed by the Trump administration. Implementation of this regulation has been postponed to 2028.
