Food Recall Alerts, Explained: How to Check If Your Food Is Recalled, and What to Do If You Already Ate It
There were 320 food recalls in the United States in 2025, up from 296 the year before, according to U.S. PIRG Education Fund's annual recall report. Yet the same report found that no one, not the government, not retailers, is required to make sure you personally find out about any of them.
The recall system mostly works as designed; the problem is that it was designed for regulators and lawyers, not for shoppers, meaning the people the recall affects personally may miss the memo. This guide explains how to navigate it: where to check, what the jargon means, what to do if you already ate a recalled product, and how to make sure the next alert reaches you.
Salmonella Summer: The 2026 Egg Recalls
This summer's salmonella outbreak linked to eggs sold at Kroger and other major grocers shows how messy a recall can get, even after it's over. Midwest Poultry Services recalled roughly 1.6 million dozen eggs on July 22 after its own environmental testing found salmonella at its Texas farms. In the following weeks, FDA and CDC's investigation determined the recalled eggs were a likely source of a multistate illness outbreak.
Two details make this recall particularly notable. First, the outbreak strain was resistant to some of the antibiotics doctors typically reach for in severe salmonella cases, meaning treatment options would have been more limited for anyone who got seriously ill. Second, the timeline never fully added up: reported illnesses dated back to November 2025, more than six months before the recalled eggs were even produced. The FDA acknowledged the recalled eggs didn't explain every case. In other words, even a closed, Class I recall still had unsettling uncertainties that don’t inspire consumer confidence.
While that outbreak finally ended, and the recalled eggs are long past their sell-by dates, eggs weren't done making headlines: in September, two more producers issued separate salmonella recalls unrelated to the major outbreak, Leaping Bear Farm in Vermont (14 illnesses) and Happy Hens in California (23 illnesses, 7 hospitalizations).
Meanwhile, an even larger outbreak wrapped up around the same time: a Cyclospora parasite outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce that we wrote about previously. CDC closed the investigation on September 11, declaring it the largest Cyclospora-specific outbreak ever recorded in the U.S., and one of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks of any kind in U.S. history: 12,883 illnesses across 21 states, at least 570 hospitalizations, and two deaths. That's a lot of recalls in one summer. Given the increasing prevalence and severity, consumers have been left wondering how to protect themselves and their families and which agencies to look to for guidance. Here's who’s in charge and how the system actually works.
Who Actually Runs Recalls?
Two different agencies run food recalls, split by product type:
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) covers meat, poultry, catfish, and processed egg products.
The FDA covers essentially everything else, roughly 80 percent of the food supply, including produce, dairy, seafood, packaged foods, and shell eggs (which is why the Kroger egg recall was an FDA action, not a USDA one).
The CDC issues no recalls at all. It does the disease-detective work, investigating outbreaks, interviewing sick people, and using lab data to confirm cases are linked, then shares those findings with FDA or FSIS, whichever agency regulates the food in question, since only those agencies can act on a recall.
One more distinction: FSIS sometimes issues a public health alert instead of a recall, typically when a product can no longer legally be recalled, for example because it's no longer for sale, but could still seriously affect consumers who already purchased the item and might have it at home.
Alert Risk Levels - What is Most Severe?
Recalls are classified by risk. The FDA's definitions:
Class I: reasonable probability the product causes serious harm or death. Act immediately.
Class II: may cause temporary or reversible harm.
Class III: unlikely to cause harm (think labeling technicalities).
Two more terms worth knowing: a "market withdrawal" isn't a recall, it covers minor issues. And "voluntary recall" doesn't mean optional, nearly all U.S. food recalls are voluntary, initiated by the company. The FDA gained mandatory recall authority only in 2011 and can use it only after a company refuses to act; FSIS has no mandatory recall authority at all.
How to Check Your Kitchen
Start at FoodSafety.gov's recall page to browse current recalls in one place, it pulls together FDA and USDA alerts so you don't have to check two separate sites.
Match more than the brand name. Check package size, dates, and lot codes; recalls are usually limited to specific lots, so your product may not be affected even if the brand is.
For eggs specifically, check the plant code and Julian date printed on the carton against the recall notice.
When in doubt, don't finish the package. If identifiers are smudged or missing, treat it as recalled.
Don't eat it, and don't open it. Return it for a refund or throw it away.
You Already Ate It, Now What?
Customers should be reassured to know that most exposures don't cause illness. But if you suspect you have eaten an affected product, it can help to know how and when symptoms might appear. Here are the timelines for the pathogens behind this year's biggest outbreaks:
Salmonella moves fast: symptoms typically start 6 hours to 6 days after infection, last 4 to 7 days, and can include watery diarrhea, cramps, fever, nausea. The CDC estimates it causes about 1.35 million U.S. infections a year. See a doctor for diarrhea or vomiting beyond three days, bloody stool, fever above 102°F, or dehydration. If you ate recalled eggs this summer and are still dealing with symptoms, mention it to your doctor, as that outbreak's strain was resistant to some standard antibiotics.
Cyclospora is slower and easy to miss: watery diarrhea (often severe), loss of appetite, weight loss, cramping, and fatigue, usually starting about a week after exposure. Left untreated, symptoms can last weeks or even months and may relapse. It requires a specific stool test to diagnose, so tell your doctor if you've eaten lettuce or other implicated produce recently, especially if symptoms are dragging on.
Across pathogens, the same groups face the highest risk: immunocompromised people, pregnant people, adults 65 and older, and young children.
Set It and Forget It
You only need to sign up for two email lists to cover almost everything you buy:
FDA email alerts for produce, dairy, seafood, packaged foods, and shell eggs, roughly 80% of what's in your kitchen.
USDA/FSIS email alerts for meat, poultry, and processed egg products.
Together, those two cover the entire food supply. FoodSafety.gov is a good place to browse current recalls from both agencies in one spot, but it doesn't have its own email sign-up, so use the two links above to actually get notified.
Your grocery loyalty card is also a recall tool, some chains use purchase history to notify customers who bought a recalled item. Ask your store whether it does.
Why People Miss Recalls, and What CRFB Recommends
The 2026 PIRG report found that FDA and USDA didn't announce a recall for 60% of 2025's outbreak investigations, and that companies and regulators aren't required to notify grocers or individual consumers directly. We recommend:
One alert sign-up, not two. FoodSafety.gov already pulls FDA and USDA recalls into a single browsable feed, but it has no email sign-up of its own, so consumers still have to subscribe to two separate agency mailing lists to actually get notified. A single subscription covering both agencies would close that gap.
Retailer purchase-history notifications as the norm. If Kroger, for example, which collects extensive data on its customers’ shopping habits, can identify who bought recalled eggs, it should be required to notify them in a targeted manner, not just post a public notice or press release.
Mandatory recall authority for FSIS, matching what Congress gave the FDA in 2011.
Restore the surveillance that was cut. In July 2025, CDC's FoodNet program, which had tracked eight foodborne pathogens for three decades, made monitoring optional for six of them, including Cyclospora, keeping only Salmonella and E. coli mandatory. Experts have since said that loss made it harder to know how this year's record-setting Cyclospora outbreak compared to historical trends in real time. That monitoring should be restored.
Recalls are critical measures in the food system to keep customers safe, which is exactly why they should be easy to hear about. Until the system evolves to reach consumers better, the steps outlined above are your best bet at keeping yourself and your family safe and informed.