🥗 FDA Food Recalls & Safety Alerts Scraper

Extract official FDA Food Enforcement Reports, product safety recalls, bacterial contamination alerts (Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli), undeclared allergen notices, and recalling firm details in bulk.

Engineered for grocery chains, food brand compliance officers, supply chain risk analysts, restaurant franchises, and consumer safety watchdogs.

---

🥊 Why This Actor Beats the Competition

Feature	🥗 This Actor (litezero)	🐢 FDA Enforcement Web Search	🔒 Commercial Food Safety SaaS
Speed	⚡ < 1.0 second / query	🐌 Clunky slow government portal	⏳ Heavy enterprise setup
Pricing	💰 $1.50 / 1,000 recalls (Free Platform Usage)	💸 Manual regulatory review ($$$)	💳 $400–$1,500 / month
Data Completeness	📦 Full reason, firm, classification, distribution	⚠️ Truncated tables & PDF downloads	🔒 Proprietary data format
Automation	🤖 REST API, Python, Node.js, Webhooks	❌ Zero API / manual search only	🛠️ Multi-month vendor onboarding
Classification	🏷️ Official Class I, II, III Hazard Levels	🧩 Unstructured government text	🔒 Paywalled behind enterprise tiers

---

🛠️ Step-by-Step: How to Use

Method 1: Apify Web Console (No-Code)

1. Enter your search term (e.g. salmonella, listeria, undeclared peanut, cheese, lettuce).
2. Optional: Filter by recall status (Ongoing, Completed, Terminated, or All).
3. Click Start and export results to JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Method 2: Python SDK

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run_input = {
    "searchQuery": "listeria",
    "status": "Ongoing",
    "maxResults": 20
}

run = client.actor("litezero/fda-food-recalls-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(f"[{item['classification']}] {item['recalling_firm']}: {item['reason_for_recall'][:80]}")

Method 3: Node.js SDK

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('litezero/fda-food-recalls-scraper').call({
    searchQuery: 'salmonella',
    maxResults: 15
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(`Retrieved ${items.length} food recall enforcement records.`);

Method 4: REST API / cURL

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/litezero~fda-food-recalls-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchQuery": "undeclared allergen", "maxResults": 10}'

---

📥 Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
searchQuery	string	Yes	"salmonella"	Contaminant or food keyword (e.g., listeria, peanut, dairy).
status	string	No	"all"	Filter by status: all, Ongoing, Completed, Terminated.
maxResults	integer	No	20	Max recall records to return (1–100).

---

📤 Output Data Dictionary & Sample JSON

{
  "recall_number": "F-0428-2024",
  "reason_for_recall": "Potential contamination with Salmonella species.",
  "status": "Ongoing",
  "classification": "Class I",
  "recalling_firm": "Fresh Farms Packaging Co.",
  "product_description": "Organic Baby Spinach, 16 oz plastic clamshell container.",
  "product_type": "Food",
  "distribution_pattern": "Distributed in CA, OR, WA, and NV to retail grocery stores.",
  "code_info": "Lot #24810, Best by OCT 12 2026",
  "product_quantity": "4,200 cases",
  "report_date": "2026-09-24",
  "recall_initiation_date": "2026-09-18",
  "voluntary_mandated": "Voluntary: Firm Initiated",
  "city": "Salinas",
  "state": "CA",
  "country": "United States",
  "scraped_at": "2026-10-04T06:30:00.000Z"
}

---

💡 Top Commercial Use Cases

1. Supply Chain & Grocery Risk Management: Automatically cross-reference vendor inventory against FDA Class I recalls to pull contaminated stock before reaching consumer shelves.
2. Restaurant Franchise Compliance: Monitor real-time recall alerts affecting commercial produce, meat, poultry, and dairy distributors.
3. Food Safety News & Consumer Alert Feeds: Power consumer recall alert notification bots on Slack, SMS, or Telegram.