When You Can\u27t Watch What You Eat: Examining the FDA’s Recall Process for Food Allergies

Over a third of all recalls for food products in the United States occur due to an undeclared allergen. In these situations, a food product is often mislabeled or contaminated in some way, resulting in the unknown presence of allergen. For food-allergic consumers, a company\u27s mistake can become life-threatening. By investigating data from the Food and Drug Administration, I found that supermarket chains are responsible for about a fifth of all recalls, and that many recalls occur past the product\u27s expiration date. These factors point to the need to improve the FDA\u27s handling of food allergies in food manufacturing