Aldi and Lidl issued the highest number of product recalls last year, between them accounting for 13% of products pulled from the shelves due to incorrect allergen labelling or contamination.
Analysis by The Grocer of FSA allergy alerts and product recall notices shows Lidl recalled 10 own-label lines last year. Eight of those were because of contamination, including listeria in Deluxe Cheddar Cheese wedges in Northern Ireland, possible salmonella in Sol & Mar pork scratchings, a burning sensation when consuming AlpenFest chocolate-covered mini pretzels, and possible plastic and metal contamination on further SKUs. This is an increase on the five recall notices Lidl issued in 2024.
The analysis adds together Lidl GB’s seven and Lidl Northern Ireland’s three recalls.
Aldi issued eight product recall notices last year, all due to undeclared or possible allergens. This included batches of its Perfect Christmas Mozzarella Sticks in Blankets because of undeclared egg, and Gianni’s Cheeky Monkey Ice Cream because of undeclared wheat (gluten). In 2024 it recalled four products that contained undeclared allergens and two more SKUs because of incorrect use-by dates.
A Lidl spokeswoman said the supermarket had robust due diligence programmes in place to monitor, detect and control compliance within its supply chains, including regular risk-based product testing and supplier auditing.
In the event a potential product safety issue was identified, Lidl worked to mitigate the risk by informing its customers and working with suppliers to ensure that robust corrective actions were put in place to prevent recurrence, she added.
An Aldi spokesman said customer safety was the discounter’s absolute priority and that it acted swiftly to recall products wherever there was a potential risk. Aldi was committed to providing clear allergen labelling and supporting allergy awareness initiatives, and worked with suppliers to identify improvements following any recall, he added.
Tesco, which stocks more than three times more SKUs than the discounters, issued seven recall notices in 2025, down from nine in 2024. Tesco said it fully investigated root causes and worked closely with suppliers to prevent recurrence.
The number of food recalls had dropped in 2023 but returned to previous highs last year.
Excluding updates on previously announced recalls and business, food businesses announced 141 product recalls last year, a 23% increase on 2024’s 115 product recalls.
Retailers and suppliers issued 85 allergen alerts last year, the equivalent of one every four days.
Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, co-founder of The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, told The Grocer: “It is not surprising that allergen alerts were the single biggest cause of food recalls in 2025. Without transparent labelling and processes, people with food allergies are shut out of the food economy, and live with the fear that the food they eat could make them ill or be potentially fatal.
“The food industry needs to do better because food allergies are everyone’s problem. They affect millions of people in the UK, and everyone should be able to eat food safely.
“Through science, Natasha’s Foundation is working hard to solve food allergies – through prevention and treatment – so that food recalls are no longer necessary.”
Fifty-six recalls were issued because of contamination. Of those, 30 were due to microbiological hazards such as salmonella, E.coli and listeria contamination and 22 because of foreign objects such as metal, glass and plastic. The other four were due to incorrect use-by or best before dates.
Michael Lilley, head of product recall at specialist insurer CFC, said the most common reasons for microbiological contamination were personal hygiene, cross contaminations and incorrect cooking or storage.
“Examples would be an employee handling raw product then handling cooked product with poor hand hygiene,” he said. “Similarly processing areas, poor clean-down of the lines after raw product has been on there and then processing cooked products after. Storing food at the incorrect temperature allows for the bacterial pathogens to grow.”
Never events
Additional analysis shared with The Grocer by product recall specialist RQA Group categorised 42% of product recalls as “never events”, borrowing the phrase from the medical term for serious and largely preventable harm.
RQA said this had increased from 28% of product recalls for reasons such as putting the wrong label on the product.
Technical director Gill Dando said: “The data suggests to me increased vigilance and transparency across the supply chain rather than a simple decline in standards.
“Higher recall numbers do not automatically indicate poorer food safety performance, in many cases they reflect improved detection, lower risk tolerance and faster corrective action.”
“At the same time as increased regulatory vigilance, manufacturers and retailers (in a large part driven by consumers) are operating in an environment of heightened scrutiny, with continued emphasis on quality culture. As internal controls strengthen to suit, issues that may previously have gone undetected or under-reported are more likely to be identified and acted upon.”
An FSA spokeswoman said the change in numbers of recall alerts should not be interpreted as evidence of a change in the food safety profile of the UK. “Product recalls can vary for many reasons, and drawing conclusions by comparing individual years may not be accurate,” she cautioned.
“The FSA is committed to making sure that any food safety actions published, including product recalls and subsequent food alerts, amplify messaging about the product recalls undertaken by the food business and reach consumers as quickly and effectively as possible. This is important to prevent impacts on consumers.
“Ultimately, food business operators are responsible for undertaking product withdrawals and recalls. Additionally, we work closely with the allergy charities to ensure we are reaching the right people, at the right time, on the right channels.
“We encourage consumers with a food allergy or intolerance to sign up for our food alerts service and get email and text updates to your phone when unsafe food is recalled,” she said.
Lilley said that the cost of recalls could vary hugely, and that manufacturers were now always aware that liability insurance does not cover the full cost to the business.
“The ranges are quite literally from hundreds to billions,” he said. “I think the main driver for the large claims is usually loss of sales or business interruption. If a recall affects a business to the point they have to halt all production or they lose a contract with their largest customer, the claims get on the larger side.
”This affects SME businesses just as much, if not more than, the corporates as they don’t have the deep pockets to stomach a large loss of contract or weeks of downtime in sales like a corporate could.”
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