Texas residents affected by a third of all food recalls from past five years, according to study

Texas residents were affected by more than a third of all U.S. food recalls between 2020 and 2024, according to a new study from packaged goods compliance firm Trace One.

Roughly 34.5% of all food recalls during the study's five-year period affected Texas consumers, meaning the state had the nation's fifth-highest recall rate during that time.

What's more, researchers found that the Lone Star State was the third-highest producer of recalled food. Some 6.5% of all recalled food originated from Texas during the study period.

As an example of a recent Texas-focused recall, H-E-B mustard potato salad produced by Reser’s Fine Foods was removed from shelves earlier this month due to potential contamination with hard plastic.

Foreign-object contamination is one of six common causes for food recalls, with the others being bacterial contamination, spoilage, allergen contamination, mislabeling and lead contamination, according to Trace One's study. Bacterial, allergen and foreign-object contamination are the most common, accounting for approximately 70% of recalls nationwide.

Lead is the least common form, according to the study. Even so, the last two recalls listed on the FDA’s website — one on July 29 and another on July 26 — were both for lead-contaminated cinnamon distributed in the Northeastern United States.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration work together to provide oversight of food production facilities. The agencies use a class system to denote the amount of risk in each recall, with Class I being the most dangerous and Class III as the least dangerous.

Texas was affected by 297 Class I recalls from 2020 to 2024, just under one-third, or 32.5%, of all Class I recalls, according to Trace One researchers.

While the study doesn't explain why Texas faces so many recalls, it stands to reason that its population numbers play a major role. The state had 30.5 million residents, according to 2023 U.S. Census numbers.

Texas also boasts a substantial agriculture industry. The state produced more than $32 billion in agricultural products in 2022 according to its Department of Agriculture. In 2021, Texas ranked as the nation's fourth-largest producer of agricultural products by cash receipts, producing 5.7% of all sold agricultural goods, according to the Texas Comptroller's Office.

California residents were most affected by recalls between 2020 and 2024, according to the new study. The Golden State accounted for nearly 40% of nationwide recalls, followed closely by New York with 35.3%.

California is also the nation’s leading producer of recalled food. Its 328 recalls accounted for 16.3% of the national total. New York again followed with 164 recalls accounting for 8.1% of the overall number, while Texas landed at No. 3 with 131 recalls, comprising 6.5% of the total.

Nationwide, food recalls jumped 20% since 2020, increasing to 547 from 454.

The FDA and USDA each manage a publicly available online database containing all publicly announced food recalls under their purview. Trace One’s study was compiled with information provided by the government agencies.

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