Global food recall trends 2024

RQA Group's latest recall bulletin has found that prepared dishes, pasta and noodles are the most recalled category in 2024 across most of the assessed regions - US, Canada, UK, the EU, Australia and New Zealand.

The root cause appears to be predominately driven by microbial contamination, with Salmonella overtaking Listeria as the leading micro-related recall event in many of these areas. Allergen and labelling issues have also been more frequently recorded. 

UK recall figures

Looking specifically at the UK, Food Standards Agency (FSA) recall notifications remain relatively stable, consistent with last year’s figures which were the lowest seen since before 2017.

Allergen-related labelling errors took top spot for root cause, accounting for 23% of events in 2024, with Listeria coming in second at 10%.

A number of categories have made sharp increases in the first half of 2024 in the UK, with meat and meat products (other than poultry), nuts, seeds and snacks; non-alcoholic beverages; and fruit and veg all seeing notable jumps. Meanwhile, both the dairy and soups category; and broths, sauces and condiments category dropped.

As is being seen across the board, prepared dishes, pasta and noodles claimed top spot in recalls via category type, pushing confectionery to position number two.

The EU

The RQA reports that this year sees the highest number of Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) notifications in the last seven years, surpassing 2023’s record high.

The product risk firm notes, however, that not all recalls reported in an individual country become RASFF notifications. It is typically when there is a multi-member state aspect that a recall becomes a RASFF notification or alert. Therefore, many recalls that are not cross-border are not shown in these EU data. Also, not all notifications are recalls – notifications may be alerts, border rejections, and news, for example.

Australia and New Zealand

In a similar vein, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) figures are projected to be their highest since 2020.

While the first quarter of 2024 showed a big drop in recalls in Australia, with only 12 recorded between January and March, they saw a severe climb in more recent months.

As with most regions, prepared dishes, pasta and noodles claimed top spot for most recalled category in Australia, with nuts, seeds and snacks in second.

Recalls as a result of labelling errors were most common as a cause, while micro-related events - interestingly - were very low, with just three recalls recorded by FSNAZ in Australia this year.

Food recalls in New Zealand are looking 'uncharacteristically' low in the first half of 2024, the RQA Group report flags. However, it believes this trend is not likely to continue as the food authorities have reported 21 recalls in July alone, almost as many as have been reported in the previous 6 months. This increase has been caused by 16 notices relating to Salmonella in sesame seed products.

The US

Recall events recorded by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are also continuing to rise, consistent with the trend seen in 2023.

The RQA Group has also said we may end up seeing the highest number of recall events since 2019.

However, the picture is somewhat different when assessed by different food products, with a marked decrease in the number of individual products affected, compared to a peak in 2023.

By category, the first quarter of the year saw a sharp rise in cereal and bakery products, and dairy recalls. However, prepared dishes, pasta and noodles have reclaimed their place as most recalled category.

The proportion of products recalled due to Salmonella contamination has seen a significant uptick compared to Listeria contamination, according to FDA data.

Salmonella now makes up 50% of products recalled due to microbial contamination for the first half of the year compared with just 30% in 2023.

Listeria is now the second largest micro contaminant type, falling from 67% in 2023 to just 42% in 2024 so far.

Looking strictly at events, there has been a significant increase in the number of Listeria and Salmonella recalls. There are already more Listeria recall events in 2024 than the whole of 2023.

If the trends from the first half of the year persist, there will be double the number of Listeria and Salmonella recall events than in 2023.

Meanwhile, USDA recall projections show a fall in recalls, after recording a spike in 2023.

Canada

Canadian recalls recorded by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) saw their biggest drop in seven years, with predictions showing that 2024 Q2 is set to be one of the lowest since 2011.

Micro contamination is leading in Canada, with Listeria the most prevalent, closely followed by Salmonella.

Canada’s recalls by category are dominated by fruit and vegetables – this can be attributed mostly to mushrooms contaminated with Listeria in Q1. In line with other regions, prepared dishes and confectionery are creeping up, in second and third place respectively.

In other news, researchers believe current food safety practices may be insufficient in removing pesticide residue from fruit.​​