Health Canada Recalls & Safety Alerts Scraper

Here is one real result, with every field the actor returns:

{
  "recallId": "zhou-hei-ya-brand-wide-vermicelli-sesame-sauce-recalled-due-undeclared-shrimp",
  "title": "Zhou Hei Ya brand Wide Vermicelli with Sesame Sauce recalled due to undeclared shrimp",
  "category": "Food",
  "alertType": "Food recall warning",
  "datePublished": "2026-08-13",
  "url": "https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/zhou-hei-ya-brand-wide-vermicelli-sesame-sauce-recalled-due-undeclared-shrimp",
  "alertId": "82481",
  "cfiaId": "17495",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-08-13",
  "product": "Wide Vermicelli with Sesame Sauce",
  "brands": ["Zhou Hei Ya"],
  "hazard": "Food - Allergen - Crustacean and shellfish; Class 2",
  "audience": "General public",
  "recallingFirm": "J.L. Trading Co. Ltd.",
  "companies": ["Recalling firm: J.L. Trading Co. Ltd."],
  "department": "Canadian Food Inspection Agency",
  "distribution": ["Ontario", "Quebec", "Saskatchewan"],
  "remedy": "Do not consume recalled products to which you are allergic or sensitive. Check to see if you have recalled products. Do not serve, use, sell or distribute recalled products. Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the location where they were purchased.",
  "issueText": "The affected product is being recalled from the marketplace because it contains shrimp which is not declared on the label. This recall was triggered by a consumer complaint. There has been one reported reaction associated with the consumption of this product.",
  "affectedProducts": [
    {
      "brand": "Zhou Hei Ya (Chinese characters only)",
      "product": "Wide Vermicelli with Sesame Sauce",
      "size": "248 g",
      "upc": "6 978378 870324",
      "codes": "2026/03/13 2026/10/12"
    }
  ],
  "images": [
    "https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/sites/default/files/styles/x_large/public/alert/recall/82481/Zhou%20Hei%20Ya%20-%20Wide%20Vermicelli%20with%20Sesame%20Sauce%20-%20248%20g%20-%20Front_0.jpeg?itok=D6abi8fB"
  ],
  "aiSummary": null,
  "aiSeverity": null,
  "aiHazardType": null,
  "aiAtRiskGroups": null,
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T11:03:20.940Z",
  "error": null
}

The most complete Health Canada recall scraper available. It returns every field the Health Canada recalls and safety alerts database exposes across food, consumer products, health products and vehicles, plus a full-detail mode that adds recalling firm, hazard classification, distribution regions, remedy, affected products with UPCs and lot codes, and images, and gives you six filters to target exactly the recalls you need.

📥 Input · 📤 Output · 💰 Pricing · ▶️ Examples

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quickstart
• Input reference
• Output reference
• Example output record
• Run via API and CLI
• Fetch results
• Billing and limits
• FAQ and troubleshooting

What it does

The actor collects recalls and safety alerts from the Health Canada recalls database (recalls-rappels.canada.ca), covering food, consumer products, health and drug products, medical devices, and vehicles. It applies the filters you pass as input and writes one normalized record per recall to the run's dataset. Dates are normalized to YYYY-MM-DD and missing source values are returned as null.

With withDetails on (the default), the actor fetches each recall's detail page and adds the recalling firm, hazard classification, audience, distribution regions, remedy, full issue text, affected products (with brand, size, UPC and lot codes) and images. Two optional AI add-ons are available on paid Apify plans: a plain-English aiSummary and an AI hazard risk assessment (aiSeverity, aiHazardType, aiAtRiskGroups).

The source is reached through Apify Residential proxy in Canada by default, which is the most reliable way to load it from a datacenter.

Quickstart

Open the actor, paste this into the input, and press Run. It returns up to 10 recent recalls across all categories with full detail.

{
  "maxRecalls": 10,
  "withDetails": true,
  "searchKeyword": ""
}

Every input field is optional. With an empty input the actor returns the most recent recalls (default maxRecalls is 10) with full detail and no AI add-ons.

Input reference

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
maxRecalls	integer	no	10	Maximum recall records to collect. Free Apify plans are capped at 10 per run.
searchKeyword	string	no	(empty)	Full-text search across the database (product, brand, hazard, firm), for example salmonella, airbag, Honda, undeclared milk. Empty pulls the most recent recalls.
category	enum	no	(all)	Restrict to one category: food, consumer-products, health-products, vehicles. Empty includes all.
recallDateStart	string	no	(empty)	Keep recalls published on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
recallDateEnd	string	no	(empty)	Keep recalls published on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
audience	string	no	(empty)	Keep only recalls whose audience matches this text, for example General public, Health professionals. Requires withDetails.
hazard	string	no	(empty)	Keep only recalls whose hazard classification contains this text, for example Salmonella, choking, fire. Requires withDetails.
withDetails	boolean	no	true	Fetch each recall's detail page (firm, hazard, distribution, remedy, affected products, images). Turn off for listing-level fields only. Billed per detailed record.
withAiSummary	boolean	no	false	Paid AI add-on. Adds a plain-English aiSummary. Requires withDetails and a paid Apify plan. Billed only when produced.
withAiRisk	boolean	no	false	Paid AI add-on. Adds aiSeverity, aiHazardType and aiAtRiskGroups. Requires withDetails and a paid Apify plan. Billed only when produced.
proxyConfiguration	object	no	Residential (CA)	Standard Apify proxy configuration. Defaults to Apify Residential proxy in Canada.

Filters combine with logical AND. audience and hazard apply to the detailed record, so they require withDetails.

Output reference

One dataset item per recall. Types: string, string[], object[], or null when the source value is absent. Fields marked (detail) are populated only when withDetails is on.

Field	Type	Description
recallId	string	Stable recall slug ID.
title	string	Full recall title.
category	string	Category: Food, Consumer products, Health products, Vehicles.
alertType	string	Alert type, for example Food recall warning.
datePublished	string	Date the recall was published (YYYY-MM-DD).
url	string	Canonical Health Canada recall URL.
alertId	string	Numeric alert ID (detail).
cfiaId	string	CFIA internal ID for food recalls (detail).
lastUpdated	string	Date the recall was last updated (detail).
product	string	Recalled product name (detail).
brands	string[]	Brand names (detail).
hazard	string	Hazard / issue classification (detail).
audience	string	Intended audience (detail).
recallingFirm	string	Recalling firm name (detail).
companies	string[]	Companies involved with role labels (detail).
department	string	Responsible department, for example Canadian Food Inspection Agency (detail).
distribution	string[]	Distribution regions / provinces (detail).
remedy	string	Recommended consumer action (detail).
issueText	string	Full description of the recall issue (detail).
affectedProducts	object[]	Affected products, each with brand, product, size, upc, codes (detail).
images	string[]	Product image URLs (detail).
aiSummary	string	AI plain-English summary. null unless the withAiSummary add-on ran.
aiSeverity	string	AI hazard severity. null unless the withAiRisk add-on ran.
aiHazardType	string	AI hazard type. null unless withAiRisk ran.
aiAtRiskGroups	string	AI at-risk groups. null unless withAiRisk ran.
observedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the record was collected.
error	string	null on success. On a failed run, a single item with a populated error field is written instead.

Example output record

Real record from a live run (input {"maxRecalls": 10, "withDetails": true}):

{
  "recallId": "zhou-hei-ya-brand-wide-vermicelli-sesame-sauce-recalled-due-undeclared-shrimp",
  "title": "Zhou Hei Ya brand Wide Vermicelli with Sesame Sauce recalled due to undeclared shrimp",
  "category": "Food",
  "alertType": "Food recall warning",
  "datePublished": "2026-08-13",
  "url": "https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/zhou-hei-ya-brand-wide-vermicelli-sesame-sauce-recalled-due-undeclared-shrimp",
  "alertId": "82481",
  "cfiaId": "17495",
  "product": "Wide Vermicelli with Sesame Sauce",
  "brands": ["Zhou Hei Ya"],
  "hazard": "Food - Allergen - Crustacean and shellfish; Class 2",
  "audience": "General public",
  "recallingFirm": "J.L. Trading Co. Ltd.",
  "department": "Canadian Food Inspection Agency",
  "distribution": ["Ontario", "Quebec", "Saskatchewan"],
  "affectedProducts": [
    { "brand": "Zhou Hei Ya (Chinese characters only)", "product": "Wide Vermicelli with Sesame Sauce", "size": "248 g", "upc": "6 978378 870324", "codes": "2026/03/13 2026/10/12" }
  ],
  "aiSummary": null,
  "aiSeverity": null,
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T11:03:20.940Z",
  "error": null
}

Run via API and CLI

Start a run and wait for it to finish, then read the dataset. Replace <TOKEN> with your Apify API token.

Run synchronously and get dataset items in one call:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~health-canada-recalls-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchKeyword":"salmonella","category":"food","withDetails":true,"maxRecalls":25}'

Start a run asynchronously:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~health-canada-recalls-scraper/runs?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"category":"vehicles","recallDateStart":"2026-01-01","maxRecalls":100}'

Apify CLI:

apify call scrapers_lat/health-canada-recalls-scraper \
  --input '{"searchKeyword":"airbag","maxRecalls":10}'

Fetch results

Every run writes to a dataset. Fetch items as JSON, CSV, or Excel by changing format:

# JSON
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=json"

# CSV
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=csv"

# Paginate large datasets
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&offset=1000&limit=1000"

<DATASET_ID> is returned as defaultDatasetId in the run object. Use offset and limit to page through large result sets. clean=true drops empty and internal fields.

Billing and limits

• Pay per result. You are charged per recall record returned (result event). See the pricing tab for the current per-result price.
• Full-detail event. When withDetails is on, fetching a recall's detail page is billed as a separate details event per record. Turn withDetails off to avoid it.
• Optional AI add-ons are billed as separate events only when they produce output: ai_summary and ai_risk. They are off by default and require a paid Apify plan.
• No charge on failure. If a run errors, the actor writes a single item with a populated error field and does not charge for it. Empty runs cost nothing.
• Spend cap respected. Set maxTotalChargeUsd on the run; once reached, the actor stops emitting and charging further billable results and add-ons.
• Free Apify plans are capped at 10 records per run and cannot use the AI add-ons. Upgrade for higher maxRecalls.

FAQ and troubleshooting

A run returned 0 records. Why? The filter combination matched nothing. Loosen filters (for example remove category or widen the date range). Zero-result runs are not charged.

Why are the detail fields empty? recallingFirm, hazard, affectedProducts and similar are detail-level fields. Set withDetails to true (the default) to populate them.

Why are the ai* fields null? The AI add-ons are off by default. Enable withAiSummary or withAiRisk on a paid Apify plan; both require withDetails.

Which categories are covered? Food, consumer products, health and drug products, medical devices, and vehicles. Use category to restrict to one.

Is this an official Health Canada tool? No. This actor is independent and has no affiliation with Health Canada or the CFIA. It reads only data that is publicly available on recalls-rappels.canada.ca. Use it in accordance with the site terms.

Related scrapers

• CPSC Product Recalls Scraper: US consumer product recalls with hazards and remedies.
• USDA FSIS Meat & Poultry Recalls Scraper: US meat, poultry and egg recalls.
• openFDA Food Recall & Enforcement Scraper: US FDA food recalls and enforcement reports.
• MHRA UK Drug & Device Safety Alerts Scraper: UK drug and device safety alerts and recalls.
• EU Safety Gate Recalls Scraper: EU dangerous non-food product alerts.

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Independent tool, not affiliated with Health Canada or the CFIA. Accesses only publicly available recall data. Use in accordance with the source site terms.