FDA Recalls API: Food, Drug & Device

recallKey	food:H-1395-2026
recallNumber	H-1395-2026
eventId	99874

How it will work: 3 steps

Follow us on ApifyThe tool is built and waits in the queue for the Apify Store. Apify is the cloud platform where our tools run.
Paste your input and press StartNo code needed: you fill in a form (the input). It already has a working example. For example: food in Product categories. Each start is one run.
Download the resultsWhen the run ends, the results are in a table (the dataset). Open Output, press Export and pick Excel or CSV. JSON and the API are there too.

This tool is an Apify Actor: a small program that runs on Apify. You can also run it on a schedule, for example every Monday. New to it? Read how it works, step by step and the 8 words you need first.

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What it does

FDA Recalls & Enforcement Monitor searches FDA recalls of food, drugs and medical devices in the official FDA Enforcement Reports, through the openFDA API. Filter by recall class, status, dates, firm, product, reason and firm state. You get one clean row per recalled product, with the four FDA dates kept apart, the recall number, the firm, the reason and a link to the record in openFDA.

One request per category. Each category you pick is one search, newest records first. maxResults applies to each category.
Four dates, never mixed. recallInitiationDate (the firm started the recall), centerClassificationDate (FDA set the class), reportDate (FDA published it in the Enforcement Report) and terminationDate (FDA closed it). You choose which date your range uses.
Not yet classified recalls. The newest recalls appear before FDA gives them a class and a recall number. You can include or skip them. They get a stable recallKey anyway.
Monitoring. With a monitorKey, the Actor saves the recalls it saw in your account. The next run marks each recall new, updated (for example the status changed to Terminated) or unchanged, and by default writes only new and updated ones.

Good for

Get a weekly list of new Class I food recalls for your quality or safety team.
Check if a supplier, brand or competitor had FDA recalls, by firm name.
Find recalls by reason: Listeria, undeclared peanut, sterility, mislabeling.
Watch medical device or drug recalls of one firm state, such as CA or NJ.
Feed FDA recall rows into a spreadsheet, a dashboard or an AI agent.

Not a good fit

Official consumer alerts or a guarantee that you see every recall in time. FDA publishes Enforcement Reports weekly, and a recall can appear later than the firm's press release.
Full recall lifecycle tracking. The Actor sees only what the Enforcement Report says on the day of the run.
Cosmetics or tobacco as separate categories, animal food recall press releases, and device recall details from the separate device recall database.
A full copy of all FDA recalls since 2004. Use the openFDA downloads for that.

Who uses it

Food safety and QA teams

Get a weekly list of new Class I food recalls.

Buyers and supplier managers

Check if a supplier had recalls.

Health researchers

Study recall reasons, like allergens or germs.

Price

Prices will be shown after release.

Questions

Where does the recall data come from?

From openFDA, the official open data API of the US FDA. The records are FDA Enforcement Reports.

What do Class I, II and III mean?

Class I is the most serious risk. Class II is a temporary or reversible risk. Class III is unlikely to cause health problems.

Do I need an openFDA API key?

No. A free key is optional. It only gives you your own request limit.

Is this medical advice?

No. It is FDA data as published. Ask FDA, the firm or your doctor about a product you use.

How fresh is the data?

Each run reads openFDA live. openFDA updates the enforcement data about once a week, after FDA publishes the Enforcement Report. Firm press releases can come earlier.

Does monitoring cost more?

No. Unchanged recalls are not written and not charged when onlyChanges is on.

Why are there no device codes like GMDN?

GMDN terms have their own licence, so the Actor does not output openFDA device classification data. If a firm wrote a code into its own codeInfo text, it stays as FDA published it.

Details

Step by step on Apify

Open the Input tab. The form already has an example: food, Class I, last 30 days, 20 recalls.
Click Start.
Open the Recalls view in the Output tab. Check recallNumber, recallingFirm, productDescription, reasonForRecall and reportDate.
Change the categories, classes or filters to your own. To get only changes next time, add a monitorKey such as food-class-1.

Use cases

Task	Input	You get	Key fields
Weekly food safety watch	`categories: ["food"]`, `classifications: ["I"]`, `monitorKey`, on a schedule	only new and updated Class I recalls	`changeType`, `reasonForRecall`, `distributionPattern`
Supplier check	`firmNames`, all categories, a 90-day range	that firm's recalls	`recallingFirm`, `productDescription`, `status`
Allergen or pathogen research	`reasonQuery: "Listeria"` or `"undeclared peanut"`	matching recalls	`reasonForRecall`, `codeInfo`, `productQuantity`
Medical device recall search	`categories: ["device"]`, `productQuery`, `firmStates`	device recall rows	`recallNumber`, `classification`, `centerClassificationDate`
Drug recall list with NDCs	`categories: ["drug"]`	drug rows	`drugBrandNames`, `drugGenericNames`, `drugProductNdcs`
Closed recalls	`dateField: "termination_date"`	recalls FDA terminated in the range	`terminationDate`, `status`

Tips for better results

Pick which date your range uses. FDA keeps four different dates per recall.
Use a monitor key to get only new and updated recalls each week.
openFDA updates about once a week, so a weekly run is often enough.

Limits and good to know

Up to 1,000 recalls per category and 3 categories, so up to 3,000 rows per run. In our test, 2,541 rows took about 4 seconds
The date range is at most 90 days. Enforcement Reports start in 2004
Without a key, openFDA limits requests per IP address per day, and the IP can be shared with other users. Each category is one request. If openFDA refuses with a rate limit, the run stops with ERROR and a hint. Add your free openFdaApiKey to get your own quota
If openFDA does not answer (up to 30 seconds per try, at most 3 tries and 2 timeouts), the run stops early and does not ask for the other categories. You get the rows found so far. The internal time budget is 240 seconds
Monitor snapshots keep up to 20,000 recalls per monitorKey. previousDatasetId reads up to 20,000 rows
Not yet classified recalls have no recall number. When FDA classifies them, they come back with a recall number as a new row with a new recallKey
firmStates is the firm's address, not where the product was sold
openFDA updates the enforcement data about once a week. sourceUpdatedAt shows the last update

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check	Action
`NO_RESULTS`	`RUN_SUMMARY.filters`	Widen the dates, remove a class or a filter, or try another `dateField`.
`ERROR` with a rate limit message	`RUN_SUMMARY.message`	Add your free `openFdaApiKey`, or run again later.
`ERROR`, openFDA unavailable	`RUN_SUMMARY.message`	Run again later. A failed run does not remove recalls from your monitor snapshot; it only adds the rows it reported.
`INVALID_INPUT`	`RUN_SUMMARY.message`	Fix the field named in the message. The range is at most 90 days.
`truncated: true`	`categories[].matchedAtSource`	Raise `maxResults` (up to 1,000) or narrow the filters or dates.
A recent recall is missing	`sourceUpdatedAt`, `reportDate`	FDA adds recalls to the weekly report after classification. Try `dateField: "recall_initiation_date"` and include `unclassified`.
Warning about different filters	`RUN_SUMMARY.warnings`	You changed filters but kept the same `monitorKey`. Use one key per saved search.

For developers

Sample result

One result from a real test run, in JSON. Real values change from run to run. In Excel or CSV each field is a column.

one result · JSON

{
  "recallKey": "food:H-1395-2026",
  "recallNumber": "H-1395-2026",
  "eventId": "99874",
  "category": "food",
  "classification": "Class I",
  "recallClass": "I",
  "status": "Ongoing",
  "recallingFirm": "WFM Purchasing, LP",
  "productDescription": "Fromagerie Coop de Mean Cabricharme and Belgium Cabricharme ...",
  "productQuantity": "21 Wheels",
  "reasonForRecall": "Undeclared Egg Allergen",
  "distributionPattern": "CA, AZ, NJ, MA, RI, CT, NY",
  "recallInitiationDate": "2026-09-08",
  "centerClassificationDate": "2026-09-22",
  "reportDate": "2026-09-30",
  "terminationDate": null,
  "city": "Austin",
  "state": "TX",
  "changeType": null,
  "sourceUrl": "https://api.fda.gov/food/enforcement.json?search=recall_number%3A%22H-1395-2026%22",
  "provider": "openFDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)",
  "sourceUpdatedAt": "2026-09-30",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-10-12T10:54:50.382Z"
}

Data fields (37)

Field	Type	Meaning
`changeType`	string	Change since the baseline: initial (first monitored run), new, updated or unchanged. null when no monitorKey/previousDatasetId is used.
`changedFields`	array	For updated recalls: which tracked fields changed (status, classification, terminationDate, the other dates, firm, product, quantity, code info, reason, distribution, voluntaryMandated).
`previousValues`	object	For updated recalls: previous value of each changed field.
`recallKey`	string	Stable key: category:recallNumber, e.g. food:F-0123-2026; for not-yet-classified recalls category:unclassified:eventId:hash. Use it to deduplicate and join.
`recallNumber`	string	FDA recall number, e.g. F-0123-2026 (food), D-0860-2026 (drug), Z-3247-2026 (device). null while FDA has not classified the recall yet.
`eventId`	string	FDA recall event ID. One event (one firm action) can cover several products, each with its own recall number.
`category`	string	openFDA enforcement category searched: food, drug or device.
`productType`	string	Product type as reported by FDA, e.g. Food/Cosmetics, Drugs, Devices.
`classification`	string	FDA classification text: Class I, Class II, Class III or Not Yet Classified.
`recallClass`	string	Short class: I, II or III; null when not yet classified.
`status`	string	Recall status: Ongoing, Completed or Terminated.
`recallingFirm`	string	Firm that initiated the recall.
`productDescription`	string	Product as described in the enforcement report.
`productQuantity`	string	Quantity of product recalled, as free text.
`codeInfo`	string	Lot numbers, codes, expiry dates identifying the recalled units.
`moreCodeInfo`	string	Continuation of codeInfo when FDA splits it.
`reasonForRecall`	string	Reason for the recall, as written by FDA.
`distributionPattern`	string	Where the product was distributed, as free text (states, countries, nationwide).
`voluntaryMandated`	string	Voluntary: Firm initiated, or FDA Mandated. null when FDA reports N/A or nothing.
`initialFirmNotification`	string	How the firm first notified consignees, e.g. Letter, E-Mail, Press Release.
`recallInitiationDate`	string	Date the firm started the recall (YYYY-MM-DD, calendar date without time zone).
`centerClassificationDate`	string	Date the FDA center classified the recall (YYYY-MM-DD).
`reportDate`	string	Date FDA published the recall in its weekly Enforcement Report (YYYY-MM-DD).
`terminationDate`	string	Date FDA terminated the recall (YYYY-MM-DD); null while it is not terminated.
`address1`	string	Recalling firm address line 1.
`address2`	string	Recalling firm address line 2.
`city`	string	Recalling firm city.
`state`	string	Recalling firm state (2-letter code for US firms).
`postalCode`	string	Recalling firm postal code.
`country`	string	Recalling firm country.
`drugBrandNames`	array	Drug recalls only: brand names linked by openFDA. null for food and device rows.
`drugGenericNames`	array	Drug recalls only: generic names linked by openFDA.
`drugProductNdcs`	array	Drug recalls only: product NDC codes linked by openFDA.
`sourceUrl`	string	openFDA API query returning this recall (by recall number; by event ID while not yet classified).
`provider`	string	Data provider: openFDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration).
`sourceUpdatedAt`	string	openFDA dataset last_updated date at fetch time (YYYY-MM-DD).
`fetchedAt`	string	When this run fetched the record (ISO 8601 UTC).

Input settings (16)

The main fields of the input form. With the API you send them as JSON.

Setting	Name in the API	Type	Example value
Product categories	`categories`	array	`["food"]`
Recall class	`classifications`	array	`["I"]`
Recall status	`statuses`	array	`["Ongoing", "Completed", "Terminated"]`
Look back (days)	`lookbackDays`	integer	`30`
Date the range applies to	`dateField`	string	`"report_date"`
Date from	`dateFrom`	string
Date to	`dateTo`	string
Recalling firm names	`firmNames`	array
Product contains	`productQuery`	string
Reason contains	`reasonQuery`	string
Firm states	`firmStates`	array
Max recalls per category	`maxResults`	integer	`20`
Monitor key (for scheduled runs)	`monitorKey`	string
Compare with dataset	`previousDatasetId`	string
Only write new and updated recalls	`onlyChanges`	boolean	`true`
openFDA API key (optional)	`openFdaApiKey`	string

FDA Recalls Export and Monitor

How it will work: 3 steps