# FDA Recalls Scraper - Food, Drug & Device Enforcement (`thirdwatch/fda-recalls-scraper`) Actor

Search official openFDA recall enforcement records for food, drugs, and medical devices. Export products, firms, reasons, classifications, dates, quantities, distribution, and status.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/fda-recalls-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Education
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## FDA Recalls Scraper

> Search FDA food, drug, and medical-device recalls with products, firms, reasons, classifications, dates, quantities, and distribution details.

### What you get

Create a structured recall feed across FDA food, drug, and medical-device enforcement records. Search by product, hazard, firm, or another supported expression, then filter the results by recall class and report date for compliance, supply-chain, safety, and research workflows.

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `recall_number` | FDA recall number |
| `event_id` | Related FDA enforcement event |
| `product_type` | Food, drug, or device dataset |
| `product_description` | Recalled product description |
| `product_quantity` | Quantity covered by the recall |
| `code_info` | Affected lot, batch, or product codes |
| `recalling_firm` | Firm responsible for the recall |
| `address_1` / `address_2` | Firm address |
| `city` / `state` / `postal_code` / `country` | Firm location |
| `classification` | Class I, II, or III |
| `reason_for_recall` | Published recall reason |
| `status` | Current enforcement status |
| `distribution_pattern` | Published distribution area |
| `voluntary_mandated` | Voluntary or mandated status |
| `initial_firm_notification` | Initial notification method |
| `report_date` | FDA report date |
| `recall_initiation_date` | Date the recall began |
| `center_classification_date` | FDA classification date |
| `termination_date` | Termination date when available |
| `more_code_info` | Additional affected-code details |
| `openfda` | Related FDA product metadata |
| `source_url` | Source record request |
| `query` | Search expression used |
| `source` | Source name |

### Example output

```json
{
  "recall_number": "F-1456-2026",
  "event_id": "97142",
  "product_type": "food",
  "product_description": "Ready-to-eat salad products",
  "recalling_firm": "Example Foods LLC",
  "classification": "Class I",
  "reason_for_recall": "Potential contamination with Salmonella",
  "status": "Ongoing",
  "distribution_pattern": "Nationwide",
  "report_date": "2026-07-15",
  "query": "reason_for_recall:salmonella"
}
```

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `queries` | No | FDA search expressions such as `reason_for_recall:salmonella` or `recalling_firm:\"Company Name\"`. |
| `productTypes` | No | Any combination of `food`, `drug`, and `device`. Defaults to food. |
| `classifications` | No | Any combination of `Class I`, `Class II`, and `Class III`. |
| `reportDateFrom` | No | Earliest report date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format. |
| `reportDateTo` | No | Latest report date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format. |
| `sort` | No | `newest` or `oldest`. Defaults to `newest`. |
| `maxResultsPerSearch` | No | Maximum unique recalls per product type and search. Defaults to 10. |

### Use cases

- Quality and compliance teams: monitor high-risk recalls by class, product, or firm.
- Supply-chain teams: identify affected products, quantities, lots, and distribution areas.
- Health journalists and researchers: build source-linked recall datasets over time.
- Developers: schedule alerts and connect new recall rows to internal workflows.

### Limitations

FDA fields vary across product types and older records, so some quantities, dates, locations, codes, or product metadata may be absent. Recall scope and status can change. Verify health, safety, legal, and compliance decisions with the FDA and recalling firm.

### Compared to alternatives

Compared with `crawlerbros/fda-recalls-scraper`, this Actor can run several search expressions across several product types in one job and starts at a lower base result price at publication. Compared with `maydit/us-fda-recalls-scraper`, it preserves the full FDA product metadata object and supports a low 10-result default for inexpensive monitoring tests. Store pricing and features can change.

### FAQ

#### What do Class I, II, and III mean?

They are FDA risk classifications. Class I is the most serious; read the official record before interpreting a classification for a specific decision.

#### Can I search by company?

Yes. Use an expression such as `recalling_firm:\"Company Name\"` in `queries`.

#### Why did one product type return no matches?

Food, drug, and device records are separate collections. A term may appear in one collection but not the others.

Explore more data products at [thirdwatch.dev](https://thirdwatch.dev). Related Thirdwatch Actors: [Google News Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/google-news-scraper), [Amazon Product Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/amazon-product-scraper), and [PubMed Research Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/pubmed-research-scraper).

Last verified: 2026-07

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

openFDA search expressions, such as reason\_for\_recall:salmonella or recalling\_firm:"Company Name".

## `productTypes` (type: `array`):

Choose the FDA food, drug, and/or medical-device recall collections.

## `classifications` (type: `array`):

Optionally keep one or more FDA recall-risk classifications.

## `reportDateFrom` (type: `string`):

Optional YYYY-MM-DD start date.

## `reportDateTo` (type: `string`):

Optional YYYY-MM-DD end date.

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Order recall records by FDA report date.

## `maxResultsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many unique recalls for each product type and search expression.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "reason_for_recall:salmonella"
  ],
  "productTypes": [
    "food"
  ],
  "classifications": [],
  "sort": "newest",
  "maxResultsPerSearch": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "queries": [
        "reason_for_recall:salmonella"
    ],
    "productTypes": [
        "food"
    ],
    "sort": "newest",
    "maxResultsPerSearch": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/fda-recalls-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "queries": ["reason_for_recall:salmonella"],
    "productTypes": ["food"],
    "sort": "newest",
    "maxResultsPerSearch": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/fda-recalls-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "queries": [
    "reason_for_recall:salmonella"
  ],
  "productTypes": [
    "food"
  ],
  "sort": "newest",
  "maxResultsPerSearch": 10
}' |
apify call thirdwatch/fda-recalls-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/fda-recalls-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/iFDkrpDbCZfHZqtg7/builds/ZbQon3zqy6LdZuKBr/openapi.json