Utilities & AI

Product Recall & Safety API API

The Product Recall API returns FDA product-safety recalls as clean JSON.

10 actionsLive JSON1,000 free creditsMCP-ready

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The primary search endpoint returns normalized enforcement records with a severity score, and you can pull a recall_detail, recalls by company, the latest recalls, stats and categories, and batch. It is built for compliance, marketplace safety and consumer apps that need recall data without parsing raw FDA feeds. One ReefAPI key, one shared credit pool, the standard envelope.

Live example

Real request and response JSON

Captured from the indexed primary action, search, on Jul 18, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC.

Captured request

{
  "method": "POST",
  "url": "https://api.reefapi.com/recall/v1/search",
  "headers": {
    "x-api-key": "$REEF_KEY",
    "content-type": "application/json"
  },
  "body": {
    "query": "listeria",
    "category": "food",
    "limit": 3
  }
}

Captured response

{
  "ok": true,
  "meta": {
    "api": "recall",
    "endpoint": "search",
    "mode": "live",
    "latency_ms": 1143.9,
    "record_count": 3,
    "bytes": 4182,
    "cache_hit": false,
    "sources": "openFDA-RES + EU-Safety-Gate",
    "categories_searched": [
      "food"
    ],
    "total": 7469,
    "skip": 0,
    "limit": 3,
    "has_more": true,
    "next_skip": 3
  },
  "data": {
    "recalls": [
      {
        "source": "openFDA",
        "category": "food",
        "recall_number": "H-[redacted-phone]",
        "event_id": "98993",
        "status": "Ongoing",
        "classification": "Class I",
        "severity_score": 80,
        "recalling_firm": "HH FRESH TRADING CORP",
        "product_description": "HH Fresh Trading Corp. (branded) ENOKI MUSHROOM; Premium Quality; Net WT/ Poids Net 150g(5.29oz) Distributed by HH Fresh Trading Exported by JIA YANG INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISES CO., LTD. Produced by Green Farm (Taiwan)  UPC: [redacted-phone]",
        "product_quantity": "120 cases",
        "reason_for_recall": "Imported Enoki Mushrooms tested positive for Listeria Monocytogenes.",
        "code_info": "No lot codes",
        "product_type": "Food",
        "voluntary_mandated": "Voluntary: Firm initiated",
        "initial_firm_notification": "Telephone",
        "distribution_pattern": "Product was distributed to a single customer located in Texas. Product was further distributed as samples were collected in Florida.",
        "city": "Los Angeles",
        "state": "CA",
        "country": "United States",
        "recall_initiation_date": "20260511",
        "center_classification_date": "20260610",
        "report_date": "20260617",
        "termination_date": null,
        "more_code_info": null,
        "brand_name": null,
        "generic_name": null,
        "manufacturer_name": null,
        "product_ndc": null,
        "substance_name": null,
        "device_name": null,
        "medical_specialty_description": null,
        "openfda": null
      },
      {
        "source": "openFDA",
        "category": "food",
        "recall_number": "H-[redacted-phone]",
        "event_id": "99001",
        "status": "Ongoing",
        "classification": "Class I",
        "severity_score": 80,
        "recalling_firm": "IQ PRODUCE, LLC",
        "product_description": "Enoki Mushroom, Net Weight 150g; Product of Korea; Distributed by IQ Produce UPC: [redacted-phone]",
        "product_quantity": "319 units",
        "reason_for_recall": "Imported Enoki Mushrooms samples collected by Florida Department of Health tested positive for Listeria Monocytogenes.",
        "code_info": "Lot UI775",
        "product_type": "Food",
        "voluntary_mandated": "Voluntary: Firm initiated",
        "initial_firm_notification": "Two or more of the following: Email, Fax, Letter, Press Release, Telephone, Visit",
        "distribution_pattern": "Product was distributed to 3 California customers.",
        "city": "Vernon",
        "state": "CA",
        "country": "United States",
        "recall_initiation_date": "20260514",
        "center_classification_date": "20260602",
        "report_date": "20260610",
        "termination_date": null,
        "more_code_info": "",
        "brand_name": null,
        "generic_name": null,
        "manufacturer_name": null,
        "product_ndc": null,
        "substance_name": null,
        "device_name": null,
        "medical_specialty_description": null,
        "openfda": null
      },
      {
        "source": "openFDA",
        "category": "food",
        "recall_number": "H-[redacted-phone]",
        "event_id": "98725",
        "status": "Ongoing",
        "classification": "Class I",
        "severity_score": 90,
        "recalling_firm": "HEMU TRADING INC",
        "product_description": "Black label with blue lettering. FOOD Korean Food, ENOKI MUSHROOM, 150g clear plastic package; Product of Korea, Keep Refrigerated. Distributed by Hemu Trading Inc. UPC: [redacted-phone]",
        "product_quantity": "1056 cases (34 packs/case)",
        "reason_for_recall": "product tested positive for Listeria Monocytogenes.",
        "code_info": "Lot code:215",
        "product_type": "Food",
        "voluntary_mandated": "Voluntary: Firm initiated",
        "initial_firm_notification": "Two or more of the following: Email, Fax, Letter, Press Release, Telephone, Visit",
        "distribution_pattern": "5 direct account consignees located in CA, FL and MD.",
        "city": "Los Angeles",
        "state": "CA",
        "country": "United States",
        "recall_initiation_date": "20260402",
        "center_classification_date": "20260430",
        "report_date": "20260506",
        "termination_date": null,
        "more_code_info": "",
        "brand_name": null,
        "generic_name": null,
        "manufacturer_name": null,
        "product_ndc": null,
        "substance_name": null,
        "device_name": null,
        "medical_specialty_description": null,
        "openfda": null
      }
    ],
    "categories_searched": [
      "food"
    ],
    "total": 7469,
    "skip": 0,
    "limit": 3,
    "has_more": true,
    "next_skip": 3
  }
}

Actions

What the Product Recall & Safety API API does

Action	Description	Concrete use case	Key params
search	Search FDA recalls by keyword, category, classification, status, company, and date range with skip/limit pagination. Pass category=all (default) to span food+drug+device.	Ops teams call search to search FDA recalls by keyword, category, classification, status, company, and date range with….	query, category, classification, status, company, ...
recall_detail	Full detail for one recall by its FDA recall_number (category auto-detected from prefix).	Developer tools call recall_detail to get full detail for one recall by its FDA recall_number (category auto-detected from prefix)..	recall_number, category
by_company	All recalls for a recalling firm / manufacturer, newest first, paginated.	Validation workflows call by_company to get all recalls for a recalling firm / manufacturer, newest first, paginated..	company, category, classification, status, date_from, ...
latest	Most recent recalls across all categories (or one), within the last N days.	Data-quality teams call latest to get most recent recalls across all categories (or one), within the last N days..	category, classification, days, limit, skip, ...
batch	Run multiple keyword searches in one call (compliance-watch over a product list).	Ops teams call batch to get run multiple keyword searches in one call (compliance-watch over a product list)..	queries, category, classification, limit
stats	Aggregate recall counts grouped by a field (classification/status/firm/state/type).	Developer tools call stats to get aggregate recall counts grouped by a field (classification/status/firm/state/type)..	category, field, query, date_from, date_to
categories	The recall taxonomy: FDA categories + EU Safety Gate product-category & risk-type enums + EU country list (reference data for filters).	Validation workflows call categories to get the recall taxonomy.	none
eu_recall	One EU Safety Gate (RAPEX) recall/alert by notification id — product, risk, measure, traceability, reacting countries.	Data-quality teams call eu_recall to get one EU Safety Gate (RAPEX) recall/alert by notification id.	id, language
eu_recalls	Search/list EU Safety Gate alerts (the EU analogue of `search`): pages over recent weekly reports (open-data XML) and filters by query, product category, country and risk type, with skip/limit pagination. Each alert carries product, barcode, brand, risk, measures, notifying country and country of origin.	Ops teams call eu_recalls to get search/list EU Safety Gate alerts (the EU analogue of `search`).	query, category, country, risk_type, weeks, ...
eu_latest	The newest EU Safety Gate weekly report fully expanded into its ~80-100 product alerts (newest-published recalls across the EU/EEA).	Developer tools call eu_latest to get the newest EU Safety Gate weekly report fully expanded into its ~80-100 product alerts (newes….	limit

Code samples

Call search from your stack

curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/recall/v1/search \
  -H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":"listeria","category":"food","limit":3}'

import requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://api.reefapi.com/recall/v1/search",
    headers={"x-api-key": REEF_KEY},
    json={
  "query": "listeria",
  "category": "food",
  "limit": 3
},
)
print(r.json()["data"])

const res = await fetch("https://api.reefapi.com/recall/v1/search", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "x-api-key": process.env.REEF_KEY,
    "content-type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
  "query": "listeria",
  "category": "food",
  "limit": 3
}),
});
const { ok, data, meta, error } = await res.json();

MCP one-liner

Ask your MCP-connected assistant: call reefapi.recall.search with {"query":"listeria","category":"food","limit":3}.

Use cases

Who uses this API and why

Marketplaces call by_company to flag products from a brand with active recalls.
Compliance teams monitor latest recalls for their categories.
Consumer apps use search and recall_detail to warn users.

FAQ

Questions developers ask before integrating

What is the Product Recall & Safety API API?

Product Recall & Safety API API is a ReefAPI endpoint group for product recall & safety api It returns live JSON through POST requests under /recall/v1.

Is the Product Recall & Safety API API free to try?

Yes. ReefAPI starts with 1,000 free credits, no card required. Product Recall & Safety API calls use the same shared credit balance as every other ReefAPI engine.

Do I need a Product Recall & Safety API login or account?

No login to Product Recall & Safety API is needed for the API response. You call ReefAPI with your x-api-key header, and the playground can run live examples before you create a production key.

How fresh is the Product Recall & Safety API data?

The page example is captured from a live search call, and production requests fetch live data through ReefAPI rather than a static sample.

How many credits does the Product Recall & Safety API API use?

Product Recall & Safety API actions currently cost 1 credit per successful call. Failed or blocked calls are free, and all APIs draw from one credit pool.

Can I call Product Recall & Safety API from an AI assistant or MCP client?

Yes. Connect ReefAPI once through MCP and your assistant can call recall actions with the same key, credit pool and JSON envelope used by normal REST requests.

Is the Product Recall & Safety API API a Product Recall & Safety API scraper?

It is the managed alternative to a DIY Product Recall & Safety API scraper. Instead of building and maintaining your own scraper — proxies, headless browsers, captcha and constant breakage — you call one ReefAPI endpoint and get the same product recall & safety api back as clean JSON.

Why does my Product Recall & Safety API scraper keep getting blocked?

Most Product Recall & Safety API scrapers break on anti-bot defenses, rate limits and IP bans that need rotating residential proxies and browser fingerprinting to clear. ReefAPI handles all of that for you — no proxies, no captchas, no maintenance — and returns live JSON. Blocked or failed calls are free.

docs / recall

Product Recall & Safety API

base /recall/v110 endpoints

post/recall/v1/search1 credit

Search FDA recalls by keyword, category, classification, status, company, and date range with skip/limit pagination. Pass category=all (default) to span food+drug+device.

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
query	optional	—	Free-text product/keyword search over the recall's product description and reason . e.g. 'peanut butter', 'listeria', 'airbag'. Combine with category/classification/date.
category = all	optional	food · drug · device · all	FDA recall category. food / drug / device, or 'all' to search every category at once. (CPSC consumer-product & NHTSA vehicle recalls are out of scope — see docs; vehicle recalls live in the `vehicle` API.)
classification	optional	Class I · Class II · Class III	FDA hazard classification. Case-insensitive. Filters to recalls of that seriousness tier.
status	optional	Ongoing · Completed · Terminated · Pending	Recall lifecycle status. Case-insensitive; unknown values are ignored rather than rejected.
company	optional	—	Optional recalling-firm filter to narrow a search.
date_from	optional	—	Filter by recall report_date from (on or after). ISO YYYY-MM-DD (or YYYYMMDD). Pair date_from + date_to for a range.
date_to	optional	—	Filter by recall report_date to (on or before). ISO YYYY-MM-DD (or YYYYMMDD). Pair date_from + date_to for a range.
sort = report_date:desc	optional	report_date:desc · report_date:asc · recall_initiation_date:desc · recall_initiation_date:asc	Result ordering by date field.
limit = 20	optional	1–100	Results per page (1-100, default 20). Larger values are clamped.
skip = 0	optional	0–25000	Pagination offset (skip N results). Page forward with meta.next_skip. openFDA ceiling: skip+limit <= 25000.
include_severity = true	optional	—	Include the 0-100 severity_score on each recall (default true).

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post/recall/v1/recall_detail1 credit

Full detail for one recall by its FDA recall_number (category auto-detected from prefix).

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
recall_number	required	—	The FDA recall_number (e.g. F-0001-2018, D-1234-2025, Z-1234-2025) from a search result. Category is auto-detected from the prefix (F=food, D=drug, Z=device) but pass category to be explicit.
category	optional	food · drug · device · all	FDA recall category. food / drug / device, or 'all' to search every category at once. (CPSC consumer-product & NHTSA vehicle recalls are out of scope — see docs; vehicle recalls live in the `vehicle` API.)

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post/recall/v1/by_company1 credit

All recalls for a recalling firm / manufacturer, newest first, paginated.

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
company	required	—	Recalling firm / company name (matched against openFDA recalling_firm). Case-insensitive, partial words allowed.
category = all	optional	food · drug · device · all	FDA recall category. food / drug / device, or 'all' to search every category at once. (CPSC consumer-product & NHTSA vehicle recalls are out of scope — see docs; vehicle recalls live in the `vehicle` API.)
classification	optional	Class I · Class II · Class III	FDA hazard classification. Case-insensitive. Filters to recalls of that seriousness tier.
status	optional	Ongoing · Completed · Terminated · Pending	Recall lifecycle status. Case-insensitive; unknown values are ignored rather than rejected.
date_from	optional	—	Filter by recall report_date from (on or after). ISO YYYY-MM-DD (or YYYYMMDD). Pair date_from + date_to for a range.
date_to	optional	—	Filter by recall report_date to (on or before). ISO YYYY-MM-DD (or YYYYMMDD). Pair date_from + date_to for a range.
limit = 20	optional	1–100	Results per page (1-100, default 20). Larger values are clamped.
skip = 0	optional	0–25000	Pagination offset (skip N results). Page forward with meta.next_skip. openFDA ceiling: skip+limit <= 25000.
include_severity = true	optional	—	Include the 0-100 severity_score on each recall (default true).

Try in playground →

post/recall/v1/latest1 credit

Most recent recalls across all categories (or one), within the last N days.

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
category = all	optional	food · drug · device · all	FDA recall category. food / drug / device, or 'all' to search every category at once. (CPSC consumer-product & NHTSA vehicle recalls are out of scope — see docs; vehicle recalls live in the `vehicle` API.)
classification	optional	Class I · Class II · Class III	FDA hazard classification. Case-insensitive. Filters to recalls of that seriousness tier.
days = 90	optional	1–3650	`latest` window: recalls reported in the last N days (default 90).
limit = 20	optional	1–100	Results per page (1-100, default 20). Larger values are clamped.
skip = 0	optional	0–25000	Pagination offset (skip N results). Page forward with meta.next_skip. openFDA ceiling: skip+limit <= 25000.
include_severity = true	optional	—	Include the 0-100 severity_score on each recall (default true).

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post/recall/v1/batch1 credit

Run multiple keyword searches in one call (compliance-watch over a product list).

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
queries	required	—	Up to 20 keyword queries; each is searched and returned with its own results. A JSON array or a comma/newline-separated string.
category = all	optional	food · drug · device · all	FDA recall category. food / drug / device, or 'all' to search every category at once. (CPSC consumer-product & NHTSA vehicle recalls are out of scope — see docs; vehicle recalls live in the `vehicle` API.)
classification	optional	Class I · Class II · Class III	FDA hazard classification. Case-insensitive. Filters to recalls of that seriousness tier.
limit = 20	optional	1–100	Results per page (1-100, default 20). Larger values are clamped.

Try in playground →

post/recall/v1/stats1 credit

Aggregate recall counts grouped by a field (classification/status/firm/state/type).

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
category = all	optional	food · drug · device · all	FDA recall category. food / drug / device, or 'all' to search every category at once. (CPSC consumer-product & NHTSA vehicle recalls are out of scope — see docs; vehicle recalls live in the `vehicle` API.)
field = classification	optional	classification · status · recalling_firm · state · product_type	Aggregate recall counts grouped by this field (openFDA count). Returns term→count buckets.
query	optional	—	Free-text product/keyword search over the recall's product description and reason . e.g. 'peanut butter', 'listeria', 'airbag'. Combine with category/classification/date.
date_from	optional	—	Filter by recall report_date from (on or after). ISO YYYY-MM-DD (or YYYYMMDD). Pair date_from + date_to for a range.
date_to	optional	—	Filter by recall report_date to (on or before). ISO YYYY-MM-DD (or YYYYMMDD). Pair date_from + date_to for a range.

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post/recall/v1/categories1 credit

The recall taxonomy: FDA categories + EU Safety Gate product-category & risk-type enums + EU country list (reference data for filters).

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post/recall/v1/eu_recall1 credit

One EU Safety Gate (RAPEX) recall/alert by notification id — product, risk, measure, traceability, reacting countries.

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
id	required	—	EU Safety Gate notification id (from a safety-gate-alerts URL).
language = en	optional	—	Preferred language for the EU notification text (e.g. en, de, fr).

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post/recall/v1/eu_recalls1 credit

Search/list EU Safety Gate alerts (the EU analogue of `search`): pages over recent weekly reports (open-data XML) and filters by query, product category, country and risk type, with skip/limit pagination. Each alert carries product, barcode, brand, risk, measures, notifying country and country of origin.

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
query	optional	—	Free-text filter over the EU alert's product name/description, brand, category and risk description (case-insensitive substring).
category	optional	—	EU Safety Gate product category to filter on (e.g. Toys, Motor vehicles, Electrical appliances). See the `categories` action for the full enum. Substring match.
country	optional	—	Filter to alerts whose notifying country OR country of origin matches (e.g. Germany, China). Substring, case-insensitive.
risk_type	optional	—	Filter by risk type / hazard (e.g. Chemical, Choking, Suffocation, Injuries, Electric shock). Substring over the alert's risk types.
weeks = 12	optional	—	How many of the most-recent weekly reports to scan (1-12; each carries ~80-100 alerts). Larger = more coverage + more upstream fetches.
limit = 20	optional	1–100	Results per page (1-100, default 20). Larger values are clamped.
skip = 0	optional	0–25000	Pagination offset (skip N results). Page forward with meta.next_skip. openFDA ceiling: skip+limit <= 25000.

Try in playground →

post/recall/v1/eu_latest1 credit

The newest EU Safety Gate weekly report fully expanded into its ~80-100 product alerts (newest-published recalls across the EU/EEA).

Parameter		Allowed / range	Description
limit = 20	optional	1–100	Results per page (1-100, default 20). Larger values are clamped.

Try in playground →

Example request · search

curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/recall/v1/search \
  -H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":"listeria","category":"food","limit":3}'

Response shape

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": { /* the result */ },
  "meta": {
    "latency_ms": 240,
    "record_count": 12,
    "completeness_pct": 100
  },
  "error": null
}