Recent Food Recalls Impact VA More Than Many States: Analysis

VIRGINIA — Coffee that could cause botulism. Crackers containing bits of plastic. Cookies with undeclared nut allergens. Millions of pounds of deli meat contaminated with listeria-causing bacteria.

These are just a few examples of recent food recalls by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While recalls tend to generate nationwide concern due to health and safety risks, how often do they actually affect Virginians?

Product management company Trace One set out to answer this question in a recent study shared on its website. After analyzing each recall issued by the FDA between 2020 and 2023, researchers discovered the total number of food recalls grew by more than 20 percent.

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Virginia was among the 10 states most affected by these recalls, according to the study. At No. 10 on the list, Virginia was impacted by 650 recalls — or 29.2 percent of all food recalls from 2020 to 2024.

California was the state most affected by food recalls. According to the study, California was impacted by 885 recalls, or 39.8 percent of all recalls. New York and Pennsylvania followed California and were affected by 36.4 percent and 35.8 percent of all recalls, respectively.

The following are the 10 states most affected by recalls:

1. California
2. New York
3. Pennsylvania
4. Illinois
5. Texas
6. Florida
7. Ohio
8. Washington
9. Georgia
10. Virginia

The states least affected were Alaska, Hawaii and Wyoming.

As the nation’s largest producer of food, California was also responsible for the largest share of all recalls. More than 16 percent of recalls originated from California products, more than double the share of the next-closest state.

The leading causes of food recalls were allergen, bacterial, and foreign object contamination, according to the study. Allergen contamination was responsible for nearly 40 percent of all cases.

Bacterial contamination like salmonella or E. coli followed at 21.1 percent, while foreign object contamination accounted for 11.6 percent.

Check out the full study online. You can find a complete list of food recalls on the FDA's website.