Consumption. How does the food recall system work?

A package of spring rolls containing a piece of glass, a raw goat's milk curd containing salmonella... In 2024, approximately 2,000 product recalls were carried out. "But there has been no upward trend in recent years," the Ministry of Agriculture's Directorate General for Food reassured on Tuesday.

Despite the multiple checks that manufacturers carry out on their production and the monitoring carried out by health authorities, it sometimes happens that a food product may be infected by a bacteria , that it contains an ingredient prohibited in the European Union, that its packaging contains a foreign body (glass, plastic, etc.) or that it has a labeling defect on allergens, for example.

Products more risky than others

"Seafood, meat, raw fish, artisanal preserves and raw milk cheeses are foods that can be particularly risky due to the potential transmission of bacteria, parasites or viruses, for the most vulnerable among us," specifies the Directorate General of Health.

When this problem is detected after it has been placed on the market, professionals must recall the product . "This involves telling consumers who still have the product at home what to do with it: throw it away or return it to the point of sale for a refund," says the General Directorate of Food of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Another point to be made: if he has consumed the product, we advise him to monitor for the appearance of possible symptoms (vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea). And, if necessary, to contact his doctor or 15.

Between 1.2 and 2.2 million foodborne illnesses per year

A product recall is signaled by a notice in a store or on an online sales site. And since 2021, all recalls must also be published on an official website: rappel.conso.gouv.fr . It is up to manufacturers to write RappelConso notices, which are monitored by health authorities.

"A single health alert can give rise to many "consumer recall" notices. Like last month, because the publication of a ministerial decree to ban the marketing of food supplements based on Garcinia cambogia , generated a very large number of "ConsumerRecall" notices," explains the General Directorate of Food of the Ministry of Agriculture. Another example: if a slicing line shows contamination, all the products that passed through it that day will have to be recalled.

While food recalls are generally carried out as a precaution, some are much more concerning. Particularly when illnesses have been identified. "On average, there are between 1.2 and 2.2 million cases of foodborne illness in France each year, including 15,000 to 20,000 hospitalizations," says Santé Publique France. This requires in-depth investigations by health authorities.