FDA Recalls Scraper - Food, Drug & Device Recalls

What does the FDA Recalls Scraper do?

The FDA Recalls Scraper extracts FDA recall enforcement reports for food, drugs and medical devices from openFDA, the FDA's official open data API. For each recall you get the recalling firm, the product, lot and code numbers, the reason for recall, the classification (Class I, II or III), the status, where the product was distributed and all key dates, as clean JSON, CSV or Excel.

The three FDA recall lists are merged into one feed, newest report first, with dates as YYYY-MM-DD and empty "N/A" values removed. There is no login and no API key needed. Press Start to get this week's recalls, or type a keyword such as salmonella, listeria or insulin.

What data can you extract from FDA recalls?

Field	Example
recallNumber	H-1407-2026
category	food, drug or device
classification	Class I (most serious), Class II, Class III
status	Ongoing, Completed, Terminated, Pending
recallingFirm	TODD'S SEEDS LLC
firmAddress, firmCity, firmState, firmPostalCode, firmCountry	1011 Volunteer Dr, Cookeville, TN
productDescription	Todd's Seeds Salad Sprouting Mixture - Broccoli, Mustard, Alfalfa and Cabbage ...
productQuantity	37,481 retail units (TOTAL)
codeInfo	Lot No: TS-633-2 Use By: 12/31/2029
reasonForRecall	Products contain alfalfa seed recalled by the supplier and may be contaminated with E. coli and/or Salmonella
distributionPattern	Nationwide; through Amazon or direct to consumer
voluntaryMandated, initialFirmNotification	Voluntary: Firm initiated; E-Mail
recallInitiationDate, centerClassificationDate, reportDate, terminationDate	2026-09-11, 2026-09-30, 2026-10-07
brandNames, genericNames, manufacturerNames, productNdcs	For drugs: ESTRADIOL, ESTRADIOL TRANSDERMAL, 69238-2448
eventId, url	FDA recall event and a link to the record

Every field is described in the Actor's output schema.

Who uses FDA recall data?

• Retailers, distributors and food service checking their suppliers and stock against new recalls.
• Food, pharma and medical device makers watching recalls of competitors, suppliers and similar products.
• Quality, regulatory and compliance consultants tracking recall trends by product type and reason.
• Law firms and insurers researching product liability and recall history of a company.
• Safety apps, newsletters and AI agents that alert people about recalls.

How to use the FDA Recalls Scraper

1. Pick the product categories (food, drugs, medical devices, or all three).
2. Optionally enter a keyword, a recalling firm, a classification, a status, firm states or a report date range.
3. Set Maximum results and press Start.
4. Download the results as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or read them through the API.

How much does it cost to scrape FDA recalls?

This Actor uses pay-per-result pricing: you pay only for recall reports saved to your dataset. There is no monthly fee and no separate charge for platform usage.

Apify plan	Price per 1,000 recall reports
Free	$3.00
Bronze	$2.70
Silver	$2.40
Gold	$2.00

Example: 1,000 recall reports cost $3.00 on the free plan and $2.00 on Gold. A test run with 20 results costs $0.06. Each run also has Apify's standard start fee of $0.00005.

Input example

{
    "categories": ["food"],
    "keyword": "listeria",
    "classifications": ["Class I"],
    "reportedWithinDays": "90",
    "maxItems": 100
}

Output example

{
    "recallNumber": "H-1407-2026",
    "category": "food",
    "productType": "Food",
    "classification": "Class I",
    "status": "Ongoing",
    "eventId": "99887",
    "recallingFirm": "TODD'S SEEDS LLC",
    "firmAddress": "1011 Volunteer Dr",
    "firmCity": "Cookeville",
    "firmState": "TN",
    "firmPostalCode": "38506-5026",
    "firmCountry": "United States",
    "productDescription": "Todd's Seeds Salad Sprouting Mixture - Broccoli, Mustard, Alfalfa and Cabbage, packaged in heat-sealed resealable bags in the following sizes: 1/4 lb., 1/2 lb., and 1 lb.",
    "productQuantity": "37,481 retail units (TOTAL)",
    "codeInfo": "Lot No: TS-633-2 Use By: 12/31/2029",
    "reasonForRecall": "Products contain alfalfa seed recalled by the supplier and may be contaminated with E. coli and/or Salmonella (downstream recall)",
    "distributionPattern": "Nationwide; through Amazon or direct to consumer",
    "voluntaryMandated": "Voluntary: Firm initiated",
    "initialFirmNotification": "E-Mail",
    "recallInitiationDate": "2026-09-11",
    "centerClassificationDate": "2026-09-30",
    "reportDate": "2026-10-07",
    "terminationDate": null,
    "brandNames": [],
    "genericNames": [],
    "manufacturerNames": [],
    "productNdcs": [],
    "url": "https://api.fda.gov/food/enforcement.json?search=recall_number%3A%22H-1407-2026%22",
    "sourceUrl": "https://api.fda.gov/food/enforcement.json?sort=report_date:desc&limit=100&skip=0",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-13T05:00:00.000Z"
}

Get recall alerts every week

FDA publishes its Enforcement Report weekly. Turn on Only new or updated and add a schedule (for example every Thursday). Each run then returns only recalls that are new, or whose status or class changed since your last run with the same filters, so you pay only for what you haven't seen. Connect a webhook, email or Slack integration to get alerts.

Large runs and the optional API key

openFDA allows 1,000 requests a day per IP address without a key. Each request returns up to 1,000 records, so normal runs need only a few requests. Because Apify's cloud IPs are shared, you can add your own free openFDA API key (get one here) in the openFDA API key field; it is stored as a secret and never written to the dataset.

Integrations and API

Run the Actor from the Apify API, the JavaScript or Python client, or connect it to Make, Zapier, Google Sheets, Slack and webhooks. Results can be exported as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS.

Use with AI assistants (MCP)

The Actor works as a tool for AI agents through Apify's MCP server: the input fields have plain names and descriptions, and a small run with a keyword returns in seconds.

Other public-records scrapers

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SEC EDGAR Filings Scraper	8-K, 10-K, 10-Q and Form 4 filings for any list of tickers
NIH RePORTER Scraper	NIH-funded research projects: newly funded labs, PIs and amounts
Federal Register Scraper	US rules, proposed rules and notices with comment deadlines

FAQ

Is it legal to scrape FDA recall data? openFDA data is public domain (CC0) and published by the FDA for reuse through an official API. This Actor reads only that API, at a polite rate. The FDA asks users not to rely on openFDA for medical decisions; you are responsible for how you use the data.

Does it include adverse events or patient data? No. Only recall enforcement reports, which describe firms and products.

How fresh is the data? Each run reads openFDA live. FDA updates the recall lists weekly.

Something is wrong or missing? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab and we'll reply within 48 hours. Custom filters or data joins are welcome too.