True or false? “There are many more food reminders than before”

Pizzas contaminated by the bacteria E. coli, Mercury in tuna boxes, Coca-Cola at Chlorate … Reminders of food products are multiplying. Recently again, the authorities have carried out that, massive, of extra-end green beans of the Extra Carrefour brand due to a risk of injury linked to the “potential presence” of pieces of glass in the jars.

Are these reminders really more frequent than before? Yes. In 2024, 2,151 alerts were reported in France, 14 % more than in 2023, and twice as much in 2010 (1,080). Reminders linked to microbiology ( listeria salmonelle, Escherichia coli ) are the most frequent (57 %of cases), followed by manufacturing or packaging defects (19 %), and chemical contaminants, especially pesticides (18 %).

Are our food products less safe than before? No. Alerts explode above all because controls are multiplying and the regulations are tightened. It is the manufacturers themselves who give the alert in the overwhelming majority of cases: producers, merchants, distributors … All analyze their products and track anomalies before they turn to health fiasco. Better a preventive reminder than a scandal that ruins a brand image. The affair of horse meat in the lasagna with findus beef, in 2013, remains in all memories.

Since 2021, The law imposes several obligations on companies. They must declare reminders on a DGCCRF platform (Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression) and publicly communicate the results, “without minimizing the risks involved”. This increased transparency, often relayed by the press, reinforces the perception of an explosion of food reminders.

Remains a major criticism: Consumer associations denounce the fact that the analyzes are mainly carried out by the industrialists themselves, internally. They require more means to allow state agents to carry out more independent checks.

Sources: review Food process ; Directorate General of Food.