What is the Reportable Food Registry?

A "Reportable Food" is an article of food for which there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, such article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals. FDA interprets the definition of a "reportable food" to include those foods that would meet the definition of a Class I recall situation. A Class I recall situation is one in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a volatile product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death (21 CFR 7.3(m)(1)).

Listed below are some examples of previous Class I recall situations:

• Peanut butter contaminated with Salmonella.
• Under-processed canned chili that contained Clostridium botulinum toxin.
• Smoked salmon contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes (Lm).
• Ice cream that did not declare peanut-derived ingredients but contained peanut butter as an ingredient.
• Baby food that posed a choking hazard.
• Horse feed contaminated with elevated levels of monensin.
• Pet food contaminated with elevated levels of melamine and cyanuric acid.
• Sheep feed containing elevated levels of copper.
• Swine feed containing elevated levels of selenium.

A food is not required to be reported if (1) the adulteration originated with the responsible party, (2) the responsible party detected the adulteration prior to any transfer to another person, and (3) the responsible party corrected such adulteration or destroyed the affected food.