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Is any food safe from a recall? A Northeastern expert breaks it down

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A person holding a jar of olives off of the shelf at a grocery store.
Northeastern expert Darin Detwiler says any type of food can be subject to a safety recall. Fortunately, there’s an app for that. AP Photo by: Heiko Rebsch

American consumers are awash in a sea of food recalls. Sausage, chocolate and even hot honey mustard recently joined the list of food items being recalled due to contamination or allergens.

Pumpkin juice, too, though it’s possible more people are surprised by its existence outside Hogwarts than the recall. 

Given the nearly daily rollcall of food recalls, Northeastern Global News asked Northeastern professor and food safety policy expert Darin Detwiler if there are any foodstuffs safe from such actions.

He says he could not think of one.

‘No food is too safe’

“Most people assume that certain foods — dry goods, bottled water, canned soups — are simply too safe to be recalled,” Detwiler says. “But the truth is, no food is too safe. And no product is above scrutiny.”

Fortunately, there is a website and an app for tracking food recalls — but more on that later.

But first Detwiler warns that foods with the “illusion of safety” can be stealth recalls in a world where people are used to raw meat and leafy greens being whisked off grocery store shelves following reports of contamination and illness.

Portrait of Darin Detwiler.
Darin Detwiler, food safety policy expert and Northeastern associate teaching professor, says even bottled water has been recalled. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Are dry goods better?

Dry, low moisture foods such as rice, flour, pasta and cereal? Their low moisture content inhibits bacterial growth but “in 2023 Gold Medal flour was recalled after routine sampling detected salmonella, a pathogen known to survive in dry environments for years,” Detwiler says.

Crackers and chips that are heat processed and sealed for long shelf lives? “Just last week Frito-Lay recalled Tostitos Cantina chips due to the unintended presence of nacho cheese chips — an undeclared milk allergen,” Detwiler says.

Bottled water is pure, right?

“Various private-label brands have faced recalls for bacterial and even chemical contamination that took place during bottling, risks that aren’t visible to consumers,” Detwiler says.

“Last month, Trader Joe’s Gerolsteiner sparkling water bottles were recalled due to laceration hazards, and last year we saw a recall of Berkeley Club Beverages’ water due to bacterial contamination.”

“In a world of food safety, the quiet streets — the ones we think we can cross without looking — are often where the danger lies,” Detwiler says. “These products appear inherently safe, and often are, but complacency around them can obscure real vulnerabilities.”

How about canned goods?

If Detwiler were to pick the safest “food format,” he says it would be canned goods over frozen and fresh.

“Most canned foods are heat processed and made to be shelf stable and airtight. Canned goods are typically among the safest of foods,” Detwiler says.

But if cans are damaged, watch out, he says.

In February, Tri-Union Seafoods voluntarily recalled select lots of canned tuna products sold under the Genova, Van Camp’s, H-E-B and Trader Joe’s brand names. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the recall was done out of “an abundance of caution” due to a manufacturing defect with the “easy open” pull tab that put the cans at risk of leaking and being contaminated with botulism, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning.

There’s an app for recalls

The public might not know that almost all recalls are voluntary and come under the purview of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees meat, poultry and egg products, and the FDA, which regulates the remaining 80% of the food supply, Detwiler says.

People wanting to check out the latest recalls can also download an app (Apple or Android) on food safety alerts. 

The app shows the food product label and whether it was for inclusion of an undeclared allergen, as was the case with Fresh Creative Foods hot honey mustard dressing, or for product contamination (Johnsonville Brats Cheddar), possible botulism (pumpkin juice by Walker’s Wine Juice) or even the potential for small stones in the product (Tony’s Chocolonely dark chocolate almond sea salt bar and everything bar).

Manufacturers and the government could do a better job of tracing the source of contamination, be it at a farm, or during processing or distribution and storage, Detwiler says. 

“All foods carry some level of risk,” he says. “Prevention must include overlooked products, not just headline-prone items.”

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