During the first quarter of 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported 316 food recalls, according to Stericycle ExpertRecall, Indianapolis. Whether as a result of contamination or labeling, allergens were the largest cause of the recalls, composing approximately 34 percent during the first quarter, the company reports. Foodborne bacteria, such as Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli, accounted for nearly one in four recalls during the quarter, and foreign materials in food products caused 13 recalls, it adds. Due to foodborne illnesses alone, approximately 48 million Americans become ill, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Furthermore, the last major update to the nation’s food safety laws was in 1938, according to an FDA presentation, and a lot has changed in the last 75 years. Today, food travels farther than ever to reach consumers; pathogens are changing, adapting, and sometimes becoming stronger and more difficult to kill; and people are living longer and with chronic diseases, making them more susceptible to foodborne illnesses, it adds. In the face of such food safety threats, President Barack Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law Jan. 4, 2011.