FDA Recalls Database Scraper

Scrape FDA product recall data from the openFDA REST API — completely free with no API key required. Search across food, drug, medical device, biologics, cosmetics, and veterinary recalls with powerful filters.

What data can you scrape?

• All FDA recall categories: Food & Beverages, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Biologics, Cosmetics, Veterinary Products
• Full recall details: recall number, classification, reason, firm, product description, distribution pattern, code info, dates, and location
• Historical data: search recalls going back decades
• Up-to-date: openFDA data is updated weekly

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
mode	Select	Search mode: searchByKeyword, searchByProductType, searchByFirm, byClassification
keyword	Text	Search term for keyword search
productType	Select	food, drug, device, biologics, cosmetics, veterinary
firmName	Text	Recalling company/firm name
classification	Select	Class I, Class II, Class III
dateFrom	Text	Start date filter (YYYY-MM-DD)
dateTo	Text	End date filter (YYYY-MM-DD)
maxItems	Integer	Maximum records to return (default: 50, max: 5000)

Search Modes

• searchByKeyword — Full-text search across all recall fields. Best for general queries like "salmonella", "listeria", or "peanut butter".
• searchByProductType — Browse all recalls for a specific FDA product category.
• searchByFirm — Find all recalls by a specific company (e.g., "Tyson Foods").
• byClassification — Filter by recall severity: Class I (most serious health risk), Class II, or Class III.

Output Fields

Field	Description
recall_number	Unique recall identifier
status	Ongoing / Terminated / Completed
classification	Class I / Class II / Class III
product_type	FDA product category
recalling_firm	Company issuing the recall
product_description	Product name and description
reason_for_recall	Why the product was recalled
distribution_pattern	Geographic scope of distribution
report_date	Date recall was reported
recall_initiation_date	Date recall was initiated
voluntary_mandated	Whether recall was voluntary or FDA-mandated
city, state, country	Firm location
code_info	Lot numbers, expiration dates, UPC codes

Example Use Cases

1. Food safety monitoring — Track all food recalls for a specific allergen or pathogen
2. Pharmaceutical compliance — Monitor drug recalls by classification severity
3. Company due diligence — Check recall history for a specific manufacturer
4. Market research — Analyze recall trends by product category and date range
5. Supply chain risk — Identify recently recalled products in your supply chain

Sample Input

{
  "mode": "searchByKeyword",
  "keyword": "peanut",
  "productType": "food",
  "maxItems": 50
}

FAQs

Q: Do I need an API key? A: No. The openFDA API is free and requires no registration for standard usage (up to 1000 requests/day without a key, much more with one).

Q: How fresh is the data? A: openFDA enforcement data is updated weekly by the FDA.

Q: Can I get all recalls ever? A: Yes — use searchByProductType without any keyword to browse all recalls for a category. The API covers recalls going back decades.

Q: What is the difference between recall classes? A: Class I = most serious (reasonable probability of serious health consequence), Class II = may cause adverse health consequences, Class III = not likely to cause health problems.

Q: Why are some fields missing from output? A: Only non-empty fields are included. If an FDA record lacks a value (e.g., no termination date for an ongoing recall), that field is omitted.