Food recall guides

• FDA recall classes explained: Class I, II and III

  What Class I, Class II and Class III food recalls mean, how the FDA decides, and what recall status labels like “Ongoing” and “Terminated” tell you.

• What to do if you have recalled food at home

  A step-by-step checklist: how to confirm a match, whether to throw food away or return it, how to clean your fridge, and when to see a doctor.

• How to read lot codes, UPCs and dates on food packages

  Where to find the UPC, lot code and best-by date on a package, and how to decode Julian date codes used in many recall notices.

• Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli: what food recalls mean for your health

  Symptoms, timing and who is most at risk for the three bacteria behind most serious food recalls, based on CDC information.

• Undeclared allergen recalls: why they are the most common food recall

  What “undeclared allergen” means, the nine major food allergens in the U.S., and how people with food allergies can keep up with recalls.

• How food recalls work in the U.S.: FDA vs. USDA

  Who is in charge of which foods, how a recall gets started, why most recalls are voluntary, and where official notices are published.