Meat and Poultry Recalls

Food recalls are voluntary actions by manufacturers and distributors. Most recalls are started because that manufacturer or distributor believes that a product could be a health threat to consumers. The number of meat and poultry recalls has greatly increased in recent years due to tightening of national food regulations.

The new regulations went into effect in the late '90s in hopes of encouraging food production plants of all sizes to closely examine their operations, identify where risks to food could occur, and implement safety precautions to prevent potential food contamination. The new regulations require plants to keep detailed records of production and distribution in hopes of recovering a higher number of products.

The recent increase in recalls could be because recalls can be made more often and more quickly, not necessarily because plants are preventing hazards before they occur. The more frequent and larger number of recalls may also be due to better testing methods developed in recent years, though the percentage of recalls that pose a serious threat has not gone down since the regulations took effect.

Though the new regulations have succeeded in increasing the number of recalls made each year, only half of recalled meat products are usually recovered from consumers, possibly because the regulations provide for little follow-up between manufacturer and consumer. Plants are required to notify retail outlets of a recall, and if the product is already being sold, many consumers don’t get the message until it is too late. Timing and follow-up are they keys to recalling meat before it reaches consumers.

Where your meat comes from can play a factor in its chances of being recalled as well as its chances of being pulled from shelves before you have the opportunity to purchase it. Larger plants recall numbers have remained steady over several years, but smaller plants have a rising number of recalls. On the other hand, the smaller plants have an easier time recovering recalled products, most likely because they have a smaller distribution system.

If you would like to be more informed of meat and poultry recalls as they happen, you can take an active part in ensuring the safety of meat and poultry products you purchase. Subscribing to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Constituent Update will allow you to receive press releases and other materials from the FSIS, which are also posted on the Open Federal Cases area of the FSIS site. You can also call the Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-800-535-4555.