Staying up to date on food recalls is essential for your Baie-Comeau restaurant, even if you don't buy your food from Ford. Just kidding, hopefully they don't sell food, I just wanted a chance to reminisce about the old recalls on the Ford "Exploder" as we called it. Memories...
A recall is a voluntary action by a manufacturer or distributor to protect the public from products that may cause health problems.
The FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) share responsibility for food safety and recalls.
The FDA has jurisdiction over recalls involving:
- seafood, fruits, vegetables and other non-meat food products
- pet and farm animal feed
You may visit the FDA web site for food recalls, withdrawals and alerts in the last 60 days, and you may also view the food recall, withdrawal and alert archive.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA inspects and regulates the following:
- meat
- poultry products
- eggs
The FSIS web site offers information on federal food recalls, including a list of current open recall cases and the recall case archive.
Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854), is available in English and Spanish and can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. ET.
You may also wish to visit FoodSafety.gov for information on reporting foodborne illnesses and product complaints, or read news and food safety alerts. Or, you may wish to access information about regulating imported food.