If a new Food and Drug Administration draft guidance is implemented, food recall notices could begin to include the names of retailers that have sold the contaminated foods. Previously, specific retailer information was not included in recall notices because of confidentiality concerns. The move follows a recent E. coli outbreak that led to five deaths.
Until now, the FDA hasn’t disclosed retailer information because “certain supply chain information is confidential between the supplier and retailer” and because consumers typically have enough information to identify recalled items without identifying retailers, said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in a statement. But the agency has identified some instances where retailer information could be helpful to consumers, “such as when the food is not easily identified as being subject to a recall from its retail packaging and the food is likely to be available for consumption.” The release offered bulk foods, deli cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables as examples of such products.
Even if the guidance is implemented, the FDA would identify retailers only during recalls where there is “a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, the food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals,” the statement said.
“Knowing where a recalled product was sold during the most dangerous food recalls can be the difference between a consumer going to the hospital or not,” said Gottlieb. “While we can’t prevent every illness, we can make sure we provide information to consumers to prevent more people from becoming sick from a recalled or hazardous food product.”
This spring, an E. coli outbreak caused by contaminated romaine lettuce sickened nearly 200 people in 36 states and killed five, the largest such outbreak in more than a decade.
The FDA will be accepting public comments on the draft guidance for 60 days.