Northeast Iowa Food Bank

Product Recalls

What is a recall?

• The voluntary removal or correction in the field by a company, of product that may be considered adulterated or misbranded according to federal, state, or local regulations, or may not comply with government regulations, or may fail to meet the manufacturer’s product specification.

• Recall Classification: The numerical designation, i.e. I, II, III, assigned by the regulatory agency to a particular product recall that indicates the relative degree of health hazard presented by the product being recalled.
  • Recall Classifications:

Where can I find recalls?

• For a list of the most current food recalls go to Foodsafety.gov, FDA.gov, or FSIS.USDA.gov. The Northeast Iowa Food Bank is subscribed to all and receives notifications from all.  

• About Feeding America Recall Notices: The Feeding America national office issues notifications of all national Class I and II recalls–those involving a health hazard situation in which there is reasonable probability that eating the food will cause health problems or death–and other recalls that may affect the safety of food supplied to network members.

• The Northeast Iowa Food Bank sends out emails to partner agencies informing our partner point of contact of a potential recall.  

What do I do if we have an item that is being recalled?

1. Discard the item immediately.  

2. Cull through current inventory to verify you have discarded all items.

3. Most of the time an image is available with the recall, please keep image posted for 30 days on a recall bulletin board or binder.

4. Cull through inventory again and keep picture of recalled posted on a recall bulletin board or binder.

5. Check inventory again after 60 days since the recall has been announced.

6. If partner agency no longer, please keep the image posted for an official 90 days.  

7. Please keep records of recalls if an item is recalled at facility for 1 year.