Kentucky Food Recalls & Safety Alerts

A food recall is when a manufacturer, distributor, or government agency removes a product from the market because it poses a health risk or violates federal regulations. Recalls happen for a range of reasons: undeclared allergens (the most common cause), bacterial contamination like listeria or salmonella, foreign objects, mislabeling, or processing failures.

Two federal agencies handle food recalls in the United States, each covering different products:

FDA (Food and Drug Administration) handles packaged foods, produce, beverages, dietary supplements, infant formula, and most products sold in grocery stores. If a recalled item came from the snack aisle, the produce section, the dairy case, or the supplement shelf, FDA is the agency tracking it.

USDA FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) handles meat, poultry, and processed egg products. Ground beef, chicken, deli meats, frozen entrees containing meat, and similar items fall under USDA jurisdiction.

The two agencies operate separately and publish recalls on different schedules, which is why this page combines them in a single Kentucky-filtered view.

Check the product details on the recall notice carefully. Recalls usually specify exact UPC codes, lot numbers, best-by dates, or production date ranges. Not every package of a recalled brand is necessarily affected, only the specific lots identified.

If your product matches the recall:

• Do not eat or use the product
• Return it to the store where you purchased it for a refund (most stores accept recalled items without a receipt)
• Or throw it away in a sealed bag where pets and wildlife cannot access it

If you have already consumed a recalled product and feel ill, contact your doctor first. Save the packaging if possible, since it helps medical providers identify the specific contamination.

The right place to report a food safety issue depends on where the problem came from.

For a restaurant, caterer, deli, or food establishment in Lexington, contact the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department's Environmental Health office at (859) 231-9791. Local inspectors can respond directly to a specific location to investigate.

For a packaged food item (something purchased from a grocery store or online retailer), the FDA centralized its complaint process in 2024. Call 1-888-SAFEFOOD (1-888-723-3366) to speak with an intake agent, or submit a report through the FDA Safety Reporting Portal at fda.gov.

For meat, poultry, or processed egg products, USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline is 1-888-674-6854.

For statewide reporting that helps spot multi-county outbreaks, the Kentucky Food Safety Reporting System (run by the Kentucky Department for Public Health) accepts online reports. The state portal automatically routes your report to the appropriate local health department while flagging the data for state-level outbreak detection.

Many people who work in Lexington live in surrounding counties. If you became sick after eating at a restaurant or want to report a food safety concern outside Fayette County, contact the local health department for the county where the incident happened.

• Fayette County (Lexington): Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, (859) 231-9791
• Jessamine County (Nicholasville): (859) 885-4149
• Woodford County (Versailles): (859) 873-4541
• Madison County (Richmond): (859) 623-7312
• Clark County (Winchester): (859) 744-4482
• Scott County (Georgetown): WEDCO District Health Department, (502) 863-3971 or (866) 759-3326
• Bourbon County (Paris): WEDCO District Health Department, (866) 759-3326

If you are not sure which county a venue falls into, or if your concern might extend across counties, the Kentucky Food Safety Reporting System will route your report to the appropriate local department automatically.