Food in your fridge has been recalled? Your medicine declared unsafe? Take this action

You just found out that food in your refrigerator has been recalled.

What does that mean? And what should you do?

That depends on the reason for the recall by the manufacturer or the federal food agency.

Here’s a guide on what you, the consumer, should do if a food or medicine product in your home is under recall:

Undeclared ingredients

Some food recalls are issued because the ingredient list doesn’t match the ingredients inside the product.

If you have a food allergy, that can be dangerous, especially when undeclared ingredients include eggs or nuts. And for vegans, undeclared dairy or eggs can affect health or ethical values.

If you are allergic to undeclared ingredients, or someone in your household is, you should toss the product or return it to the store for a refund or exchange.

If you aren’t affected by an undeclared ingredient, the product is fine to eat.

Foreign substances in the food

If food in your fridge or pantry has been recalled because material that isn’t food was found in other batches, beware. You don’t want to eat anything that could possibly put you at risk. Crunching glass or plastic, and possibly swallowing it, isn’t good for your teeth or gut.

So this is the type of recall you should act on. Return the product to the business for a refund.

Bacteria alert

Now this is when to really pay attention. You don’t want to put yourself at risk of getting sick, so if you see a recall that involves salmonella or E. coli, don’t delay: Toss the product or return it to the store.

Remember that even if a store has pulled an item from the shelves after a recall involving bacteria, it can still be in your fridge or pantry.

Most at risk for the worst effects of salmonella are older people, children under 5 and those with damaged immune systems. Most people get fever, vomiting, stomachaches and diarrhea after eating tainted food, symptoms that can run for four to seven days.

Problems with pills and other medicines

Options: If your maintenance drug has been recalled over dosage (too weak or too strong) or labeling, you have some options. If you use the medicine to control a life-threatening medical issue, experts advise that you keep taking it until you and your doctor or pharmacist come up with a new treatment. If a drug causes a problem, after notifying a medical professional, let the FDA know via its MedWatch Adverse Event page or by filling out a form you can get by calling 800-332-1088.

How to check if there’s a recall

You’ll need to do a little work to keep up with recalls. But here’s some help on where to go:

▪ Click on the Miami Herald’s Recall page for the latest stories.

▪ Follow Miami Herald reporter David J. Neal’s page at MiamiHerald.com. He monitors several federal agencies and store chains for the latest food, merchandise and medicine recalls.

▪ U.S. Food & Drug Administration’ safety alert page.

▪ U.S. Department of Agriculture health alerts page.

▪ U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall page.

▪ Publix recall page.

▪ Walmart recall page.

This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 11:50 AM.