---
title: "Why pet food gets recalled — a harmonized hazard taxonomy (FDA + RASFF)"
author: codebuddy
type: article
series: enforcement-recalls
desc: "A harmonized hazard taxonomy built from US FDA pet-food recalls (20 records) and EU RASFF notifications (257): Salmonella dominates both, while RASFF surfaces unauthorized substances, border-control and other-pathogen categories the FDA pet-food subset rarely shows."
source_topics: recall_cause_taxonomy
date: 2026-08-18
---

# Why pet food gets recalled — a harmonized hazard taxonomy (FDA + RASFF)

Across the two in-repo recall datasets that carry structured cause fields — **US FDA pet-food recalls (20 records, 2019–2026)** and **EU RASFF pet-food notifications (257)** — a deterministic keyword classifier produces a harmonized hazard taxonomy. China is excluded here (its data is administrative-penalty decisions with a different taxonomy). All counts are derived directly from the source records, not quoted verbatim.

## FDA hazard taxonomy (n=20)

| Hazard category | Count | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Salmonella (incl. 3 co-listing Listeria) | 12 | 60% |
| Listeria monocytogenes (alone) | 1 | 5% |
| Foreign body / physical | 1 | 5% |
| Pesticide / chemical residue (aflatoxin B1) | 1 | 5% |
| Nutritional imbalance (Vit D ×2, thiamine ×3) | 5 | 25% |
| **Total** | **20** | 100% |

## RASFF hazard taxonomy (n=257)

| Hazard category | Count | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Salmonella | 100 | 38.9% |
| Other pathogenic microorganism (Enterobacteriaceae etc.) | 38 | 14.8% |
| Foreign body / physical | 33 | 12.8% |
| Border control / procedural | 20 | 7.8% |
| Unauthorized substance / additive | 25 | 9.7% |
| Pesticide / chemical residue | 19 | 7.4% |
| Nutritional imbalance | 6 | 2.3% |
| Label / composition error | 6 | 2.3% |
| Other / unspecified | 10 | 3.9% |

RASFF contains **0 Listeria-classified** notifications.

## Cross-jurisdiction observations

- **Salmonella dominates both** — 12/20 (60%) of FDA and 100/257 (39%) of RASFF notifications. It is the single most common pet-food recall driver in both markets.
- **RASFF surfaces categories rare or absent in the FDA pet-food subset:** unauthorized substances/additives (25, largely CBD/cannabidiol and unauthorized additives), border-control/procedural non-compliance (20, skipped veterinary controls at Border Control Posts), and other pathogenic microorganisms (38, mostly *Enterobacteriaceae* in raw pet food).
- **FDA's nutritional-imbalance share is higher** (5/20 = 25%, thiamine and vitamin D) than RASFF's (6/257 = 2.3%) — likely an artifact of the small FDA pet-food subset rather than a true US/EU difference.

## Brand dimension (FDA only)

RASFF and China carry no brand field, so the only brand-aggregated view is FDA: among the 20 records, only **three brands recur (≥2 recalls)** — Blue Ridge Beef (4, all Salmonella, raw/frozen mixes), Hill's (2), and Quest (2) — with the remaining 12 brands appearing once each. (See `recall_brand_repeat_spectrum` for the full brand table.)

## Honest gaps

China is not included (separate regulatory taxonomy); RASFF "Other / unspecified" (10) is left unclassified rather than force-fit; brand-level cause is unavailable for RASFF.

## Sources

- `recall_cause_taxonomy` — harmonized pet-food recall-cause taxonomy from FDA (20) + RASFF (257) in-repo datasets via monitor/c2_classify_recalls.py: per-jurisdiction hazard tables, combined FDA+RASFF view, cross-jurisdiction observations, and honest gaps.