What the FDA Found When It Checked the Shelves
The federal government tested whether food recalls actually work, and the answer was worse than most shoppers would assume.
Following a recall of infant formula tied to an outbreak of infant botulism, the FDA and state and local partners conducted more than 4,000 checks at retail locations nationwide. They found recalled product still available for sale at more than 175 retail locations across 36 states, according to the agency's December 15, 2025 letter to industry leaders.
The specifics are worse than the totals. In one case, recalled product remained for sale more than three weeks after the recall was initiated. In another, the product was offered at a discounted price, with the promotion beginning five days after the recall had been expanded to cover all of that manufacturer's infant formula. In several cases, recalled product returned by consumers was placed back on shelves.
"These preventable situations placed America's most vulnerable population, infants, for whom infant formula is often a sole source of nutrition, at continued risk of serious illness," the letter states. FDA issued warning letters in December 2025 to several retailers.
The agency noted this was not a one-off. After a late 2023 recall of apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches for children due to elevated lead levels, one retailer continued to offer the product despite multiple agency requests to remove it and received a warning letter as well.
The Four Failures the FDA Named
The letter, signed by Principal Deputy Director for Human Foods Donald A. Prater, DVM, lists what agency staff actually observed at the retail level, and one item on the list explains a great deal about why consumers struggle too.
Retailers were sometimes unaware a recall had been issued for products in their inventory. Some were uncertain which lot numbers or product codes were subject to the recall. Some removed only part of the affected stock from shelves and storage. And some continued to receive and stock recalled product after notification, or accepted customer returns and put them back into inventory for resale.
The second item is the one that matters most for households. If a retailer with a compliance department and a direct notification from the manufacturer could not determine which lot codes were covered, an ordinary shopper standing in a kitchen has no realistic chance.
FDA's guidance to manufacturers spells out what complete identification looks like: product name, size, lot numbers, codes, expiration dates, and other descriptive detail including UPC codes and shipping dates. When any of that is missing or ambiguous, the recall degrades into a general warning rather than an actionable instruction.
Why Frozen and Repackaged Foods Break the Recall Chain
Recall communication assumes a consumer can look at a package and match it against a notice. For a large share of the food supply, that assumption fails at the point of purchase or shortly after.
Frozen foods are the clearest case. A shopper brings home a bag of vegetables, chicken tenders or waffles, opens it, and often transfers the contents to a freezer container or simply rolls the bag down and loses track of it behind other items. The lot code and best-by date live on the packaging, which is frequently discarded, obscured by frost, or separated from the food. Then the product sits for months. A recall announced in October can concern a bag purchased in June and still half-full in December, long after any news coverage has passed.
Repackaged and store-prepared foods break the chain differently. When a manufacturer supplies bulk product that a retailer bakes, portions, or repackages in store, the identifying codes stay on the case in the back room. The item the customer carries out has a store label with a sell-by date and no manufacturer lot code at all. This is not hypothetical: a recent recall of Pillsbury bread roll dough supplied to in-store bakeries carried lot codes that appeared only on the bulk frozen dough cases, not on the finished rolls sold at the counter.
Deli counters, bakery departments, salad bars, prepared meals and bulk bins share the same structural weakness. So does food that leaves its packaging on the way to the plate, which describes most of what people actually eat.
What Households Can Actually Do
None of this is solvable by consumers alone, but a few habits meaningfully improve the odds.
Keep identification with the food. For frozen items, the simplest version is to cut the lot code and best-by date off the original bag and drop it into the freezer container, or write the purchase date and store on the container with a marker. For anything decanted into a jar or bin, note the code somewhere. This takes seconds and converts an unverifiable item into a checkable one.
Use the notification systems that already exist. FDA maintains a recalls page for foods and dietary supplements and offers email alerts, and USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service handles meat, poultry and egg products separately, which is why some recalls appear on one site and not the other. Retailer loyalty accounts are underused here: several large chains match recalls against purchase history and notify affected shoppers directly, which works even when the packaging is long gone.
When identification is impossible, discard rather than gamble. If a recall covers a product you bought in the affected window and you cannot verify the lot, the FDA's guidance across recalls is consistent: do not eat it. Cooking does not neutralize foreign material, chemical contaminants or most toxins, and it is not a reliable safeguard against pathogens in a product that was not designed to be cooked to a specific temperature.
Households with infants and young children should treat this category with the least tolerance for ambiguity. That is the population FDA singled out, both because the consequences are more severe and because formula is often a sole source of nutrition.
What the Agency Says Comes Next
FDA's December letter reaffirmed that registered food facilities must maintain written recall plans under federal preventive controls rules, covering direct consignee notification, public notification, effectiveness verification and product disposition. It strongly encouraged retailers and distributors, who are not required to have such plans, to adopt them as a best practice.
The agency also said it will continue conducting retail checks and inspections with state and local partners to verify recall effectiveness, and will take action when firms fail to remove recalled products from commerce. In a July 2025 letter, FDA had already committed to creating a centralized, consumer-focused recall webpage with particular attention to formula and foods for babies and young children, and to reviewing its own recall communication protocols.
Whether that translates into recalls that reach the freezer is the open question. MedicalDaily will track the promised consumer recall portal, further warning letters, and any FDA action addressing identification of repackaged and store-prepared foods.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the FDA find? In more than 4,000 retail checks after an infant formula recall, recalled product was still for sale at more than 175 locations across 36 states, including one location more than three weeks after the recall began.
Why are frozen food recalls harder to act on? Lot codes are printed on packaging that shoppers often discard, and frozen items stay in home freezers for months, long after recall coverage has passed.
What if I bought a recalled item from a bakery or deli counter? Those items usually carry a store label without the manufacturer's lot code, because the code stays on the bulk case. Contact the store where you bought it.
Should I cook a recalled food to make it safe? No. Cooking does not remove foreign material or chemical contaminants and is not a reliable safeguard for products not intended to be cooked to a specific temperature.
How do I find out about recalls? FDA's recalls page and email alerts cover most foods and supplements. USDA's FSIS covers meat, poultry and egg products. Retailer loyalty accounts often notify shoppers based on purchase history.
What is the single most useful habit? Keep the lot code and best-by date with the food. Cut the code from the bag into the freezer container, or write the purchase date on it.
Who is most at risk from a failed recall? Infants and young children, whom the FDA specifically named, along with older adults and people who are immunocompromised.
