Product Recalls Have Doubled Since the Pandemic: New Study

The majority of products recalled by the FDA were food and beverages.

By:  Amie Dahnke

Product recalls—including those for food, beverages, and baby products—issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have doubled in rate since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2018, the FDA has initiated more than 1,000 food and drug recalls, while the CPSC has been responsible for more than 1,500 product recalls, hitting a record high of 603 recalls in 2022. The organizations expect to reach 443 recalls by the end of 2023. Previous years saw 280 to 300 recalls.

The 115 percent increase over the past five years has analysts taking a closer look at common recalls, and the explanations behind them.

What Products Were Recalled the Most?

MasterControl, the life sciences software company that analyzed data from the last five years, found that the majority of products recalled by the FDA were food and beverages, accounting for 64 percent of recalls over the past five years. Other commonly recalled products include medications (22 percent of recalls), animal and veterinary products (6 percent of recalls), medical devices (4 percent of recalls), dietary supplements (2 percent of recalls), and cosmetics (1 percent of recalls). For the CPSC, child and baby products were at the top, accounting for one in five product recalls.

Recalls on baby formula in particular caused shortages in recent years. However, during the same time period, there were twice as many recalls on pet food and animal products than those issued for baby formula, according to the MasterControl report. Nevertheless, the baby formula shortage spurred lawmakers to write legislation ensuring states would provide access to breast milk for women who could not obtain formula.

According to MasterControl, allergens drove most of the recalls led by the FDA, accounting for 34 percent of the recalls between 2018 and 2022. Foodborne illnesses accounted for 25 percent, followed by contamination or inadequate processing (21 percent), and packaging or labeling issues (4 percent). For the CPSC, the four most common reasons for recalls between 2018 and 2022 included fire (24 percent), injury (21 percent), burns (18 percent), and crash (8 percent).

The MasterControl team noted that only 4 percent of recalls were related to medical devices, adding that while “medical device manufacturing has been painted by some as a wild, unregulated industry,” the numbers show more reliability than expected.

The Effect of Stricter Regulations

Analysts believe that allergens have caused complications for manufacturers in recent years, as foods with undeclared or mislabeled allergens were recalled 1.6 times more often than products recalled for foodborne illnesses.

But a main factor for the increase in recalls is the fact that the FDA has more oversight and power. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was signed in 2011, finalized several rules throughout the last couple of years—even as late as August 2023. The rules and guidelines with the FSMA are designed to prevent foodborne illnesses in the food supply. Working in tandem with the FSMA are the stricter regulations put in place during the pandemic to ensure public safety, analysts say.

Understanding the Recall Process

Product recalls are used as a way to remove or correct products that pose some type of danger or risk to consumers.

(TheEpochTimes.com)