How the college stays ahead of food recalls

It’s all over the news—food recall after food recall, outbreak after outbreak—leaving many stunned and wondering: Was it always this bad?

 On Jan. 27, the FDA issued a Class I recall on broccoli contaminated with listeria that was available at Walmarts in 20 different states. It feels like news stations are reporting food recalls more than ever before, and even index reports are showing that food recalls are hitting an all-time high. But even in the face of food-recalling adversary, The Café and food pantry at Kirkwood Community College both report to have remained virtually unharmed by these outbreaks. 

The Café in Iowa Hall is where students can purchase warm meals. It offers multiple stations and a rotating menu each week. Carla Hillman, office manager at The Cafe, assured that no food recalls have recently impacted food availability, prices or quality for Kirkwood students. “We receive 90% of our supplies from US Foods,” said Hillman. US Foods texts her food recalls, but none have affected any of their supplies.  

The food pantry at Kirkwood is another service that offers food to Kirkwood students. Sam Carpenter, the program specialist at Kirkwood, expressed similar sentiments about Kirkwood food recalls. “We get all of our food through HACAP reservoir, and they do all of the scanning for us to make sure all of the food is safe and to check for food recalls,” said Carpenter. 

Regardless, both Carpenter and Hillman stated they double check any food for foodborne illness or possible recalls.  

Carpenter also warned that Kirkwood students should be on the lookout for food recalls that may not be from foodborne illness. According to Carpenter, non-perishable food items can also be impacted by food recalls. “There can be recalls involving foreign materials in products. Sometimes it can be undeclared allergens,” he said.  

 Carpenter said there was one food recall back in 2023 that affected the food pantry. “The only thing I can really recall is when Jiffy recalled peanut butter for potential salmonella. I threw out the rest of my peanut butter and put up a sign that would inform other people,” he said.  

Carpenter said he believes Kirkwood has not been majorly impacted by food recalls. “I would say not at least in our area. All of our food has remained pretty good and safe.”  

 According to a report by the Sedgwick’s Brand Protection 2025 U.S. State of National Recall index, there were a total of 3,232 food recalls in 2024. This is reportedly the second highest annual score in the past six years. 2024 was also reported to hit the highest level of bacteria contamination recalls in the past five years, supporting the trend that food recalls have increased in recent years. 

The FDA reports that it currently investigates between 17 to 36 cases of foodborne illness across states each week alone. As of Feb. 17, the FDA is currently investigating 11 active cases of foodborne illness across states.  

Kirkwood students should not expect to be majorly impacted by food recalls on campus but are advised to re-evaluate for food that is not supplied on campus. 

Students can access information on food safety and recalls by visiting FoodSafety.gov, which reports recent food recalls and provides tips on how to properly cook and store food.