FDA Launches Recall Search Engine

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a new “consumer-friendly” web portal detailing the latest recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts for food and other products regulated by FDA. According to an April 4, 2011, press release, the new searchable database organizes all recall information since 2009 “by date, product brand name, product description, reason for the recall, and the recalling firm.” It also provides a link to news releases about each recall, as well as a photograph of the products in question.

Designed with input from stakeholder groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Marketing Institute, Grocery Manufacturers Association, and Pew Health Group, the web portal answers to Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements that FDA implement “a consumer-friendly recall search engine within 90 days after the law went into effect.” Under FSMA, the agency must also indicate whether it offered the opportunity for a voluntary recall or ordered a mandatory one, in which case FDA must also specify whether the event is ongoing or completed.

“The new search page not only provides consumers with an easy-to-read
table of information on products they are searching for, it also represents
the delivery of one of the first major actions called for under the Food Safety
Modernization Act,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods Mike Taylor,
who has also asked users and stakeholders for their continuing input. “We
encourage people to check out our new recalls search page for themselves,
and use it whenever they have a question about a recall.”