Pet-food recall-cause taxonomy — hazard category × jurisdiction × frequency
A harmonized hazard taxonomy built from 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 notifications). China is excluded here — its data is administrative-penalty decisions with a different (regulatory) taxonomy; see cn_petfeed_penalty_classification.
Method (reproducible)
- Classifier:
monitor/c2_classify_recalls.pyapplies deterministic keyword rules to
the FDA recall_reason field and the RASFF subject field. First match wins, in this priority order: Salmonella → Listeria → Foreign body/physical → Pesticide/chemical → Unauthorized substance/additive → Nutritional imbalance → Label/composition → Other pathogenic microorganism → Border control/procedural → Other/unspecified.
- Co-listed Salmonella+Listeria: 3 FDA records name both agents. They are counted under
Salmonella (the primary microbial agent) with Listeria flagged separately, so the two columns are not additive.
- Re-run to verify:
python3 monitor/c2_classify_recalls.py.
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% |
| Foreign body / physical | 33 | 12.8% |
| Pesticide / chemical residue | 19 | 7.4% |
| Unauthorized substance / additive | 25 | 9.7% |
| Nutritional imbalance | 6 | 2.3% |
| Label / composition error | 6 | 2.3% |
| Other pathogenic microorganism (Enterobacteriaceae etc.) | 38 | 14.8% |
| Border control / procedural | 20 | 7.8% |
| Other / unspecified | 10 | 3.9% |
| Total | 257 | 100% |
RASFF contains 0 Listeria-classified notifications. "Other / unspecified" (10) are notifications whose subject states no explicit hazard (e.g., *"Two dogs who got sick from chew sticks, from Germany"*, *"Consumer complaint on pet food from Germany"*).
Combined FDA + RASFF (n=277)
| Hazard category | FDA | RASFF | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salmonella | 12 | 100 | 112 |
| Listeria monocytogenes | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Foreign body / physical | 1 | 33 | 34 |
| Pesticide / chemical residue | 1 | 19 | 20 |
| Unauthorized substance / additive | 0 | 25 | 25 |
| Nutritional imbalance | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| Label / composition error | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Other pathogenic microorganism | 0 | 38 | 38 |
| Border control / procedural | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Other / unspecified | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Total | 20 | 257 | 277 |
Cross-jurisdiction observations
- Salmonella dominates both FDA (12/20 = 60%) and RASFF (100/257 = 39%) — the single
most common pet-food recall driver in both jurisdictions.
- RASFF surfaces categories rare/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 BCP), and other pathogenic microorganisms (38, mostly *Enterobacteriaceae* in raw pet food).
- FDA nutritional-imbalance share is higher (5/20 = 25%, thiamine and vitamin D) than
RASFF (6/257 = 2.3%) — likely an artifact of the small FDA pet-food subset rather than a true US/EU difference.
Honest gaps
- China not included — its enforcement data is penalty decisions, classified separately
in cn_petfeed_penalty_classification.
- RASFF "Other / unspecified" (10) left unclassified rather than force-fit.
- Brand-level cause unavailable for RASFF (no brand field); see
recall_brand_repeat_spectrum for the FDA-only brand view.
Cross-references
recall_brand_repeat_spectrum— FDA brand repeat-recall viewcn_petfeed_penalty_classification— China penalty taxonomy (violation × legal article)contaminant_matrix_petfood— maximum limits for the chemical/mycotoxin hazards above