WASHINGTON — The Grocery Manufacturers Association on Tuesday commended the Food and Drug Administration’s new consumer-friendly website for food and other product recalls.
The FDA introduced the site (http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm) Monday to make it easier and quicker for consumers to search for food and other product recalls, in response to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which called for a more consumer-friendly recall search engine.
To provide greater ease of use for consumers, the search results provide data from news releases and other recall announcements in the form of a table. That table organizes information from news releases on recalls since 2009 by date, product brand name, product description, reason for the recall and the recalling firm.
The table also provides a link to the news release on each recall for more detailed information. The news releases were chosen as the source of information for the table because they provide the most up-to-date and user friendly information about any recall.
“The agency should be commended for its work on this important project and for its ongoing commitment to enhancing the strength of our country’s food safety system,” said Pamela G. Bailey, GMA’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
“Recalls, mandatory or otherwise, are serious and we must do everything possible to make it easier for people to know about these recalls so they can take all appropriate steps to protect themselves and their families,” said Mike Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods. “We encourage people to check out our new recalls search page for themselves, and use it whenever they have a question about a recall.”
Per the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act, for certain recalls the search results will also provide status information on whether the recall is completed or ongoing. The status information will be provided for those recalls for which FDA either ordered a mandatory recall or provided the opportunity for a voluntary recall under FDA's FSMA authority.