WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — After a new warning days ago about a food recall for organic carrots, WPTV News anchor Hollani Davis decided to dive in and see if food recalls are on the rise the year.
In short, the answer is yes.
Just within the last month, the FDA has posted voluntary recalls for cinnamon, onion soup mix, and organic carrots. Last month, a recall for frozen waffles and pancakes over potential listeria contamination continued to grow.
Florida Atlantic University associate professor of supply chain management, Steven Carnovale said the higher number of recalls are still fairly low when you look at all of the food we consume and how many hands are in the mix.
"The nature of food supplies is so globally interconnected and it's so globally dispersed. You can have something, a spice that was harvested in South America, be processed in Central America, be sent to India, then sent back to the United States for ultimate production and distribution. And so, you've got this complex web of companies all involved with different value-added steps in the food supply chain," Carnovale said.
The supply chain expert says one way to digest the spike in food recalls is added assurance that safety guardrails and regulations are working.
"During COVID, the food supply chain got stressed and I think there may have been some laxed oversight. I think now we are getting back to how the FDA used to be," Carnovale said.
The FDA reports that, as of October 31, 2024, there have been 1,908 recalls for food and cosmetics. There were 1,563 recalls in 2023.
You can track food recalls by clicking here.
Not only are we seeing the highest spike of food recalls since the pandemic, but the recalls also fall under the most serious Class 1 category, meaning any contamination could pose severe health risk or lead to death.
Carnovale says new advancements, like savvier bar codes on food, are being fine-tuned to better pinpoint and track the source of contaminations and not just a central location.
He also said grocery stores seem to be more proactive in reaching out to customers about recalls. He said retailers are able to alert the public faster because they can cross-reference recall lists with their membership list or customers who subscribe to rewards clubs.
