# The Recall Desk

> Neutral, verification-first reference for US product recalls. We aggregate
> notices from the FDA, USDA FSIS, CPSC, NHTSA, and EPA into plain-English
> summaries with objective severity scoring. Every recall page links back to
> the original government source.

The site is independent of any agency and free of ads, affiliate links, and
paid placement. Severity is scored 1–5 from objective criteria — never vibes.

## Editorial principles

- Neutral voice. Translate, do not editorialize.
- Verification first. Every recall page shows the agency, recall number, and
  the source URL prominently.
- No hallucination. LLM rewrites are grounded in the source recall text.
- Plain English only.

## Primary URLs

- [Homepage](https://therecalldesk.com/)
- [All recalls](https://therecalldesk.com/recalls)
- [Critical recalls](https://therecalldesk.com/recalls?severity=5)
- [Search](https://therecalldesk.com/search)
- [Check a lot code or UPC](https://therecalldesk.com/check) — `/check?q=CODE`; note a NO
  MATCH is weak evidence, since only ~81% of recalls publish any identifier
- [Vehicle lookup](https://therecalldesk.com/vehicle-lookup)
- [NHTSA defect investigations](https://therecalldesk.com/investigations)
- [Do-not-drive / park-outside advisories](https://therecalldesk.com/advisories) — NHTSA's most
  urgent instructions; park-outside means the vehicle can catch fire while parked
- [Alert subscriptions](https://therecalldesk.com/alerts)
- [RSS feed](https://therecalldesk.com/feed.xml) — 50 most recent recalls
- [Recall data API](https://therecalldesk.com/api-docs) — free read-only JSON, no key, 60 req/min

## Querying this data directly

`GET https://therecalldesk.com/api/recalls` returns the archive as JSON. Filter with
`agency`, `category` and `severity` (minimum, not exact), page with `limit`
(1-100) and `offset`. Full documentation at https://therecalldesk.com/api-docs.

Note that `severity_score` is OUR 1-5 assessment, not the agency's
classification — see https://therecalldesk.com/methodology. Do not attribute it to the FDA,
USDA, CPSC or NHTSA. Every record carries `source_url` pointing at the
original government notice, which is the citable primary source.

## Browse by facet

Every recall is indexed four ways. Each hub lists the facets with a count, and
each facet page lists the recalls carrying it.

- [By severity](https://therecalldesk.com/severity) — our 1-5 score, with what each level means
- [By state](https://therecalldesk.com/state) — 50 states, DC, and the 5 US territories
- [By hazard](https://therecalldesk.com/hazard) — what actually went wrong (Listeria,
  undeclared allergen, fire risk, laceration), cutting across agency and category
- [By manufacturer](https://therecalldesk.com/manufacturer) — the recalling firm named in the
  notice, which is not always the brand on the package

## Recall categories

- [Food](https://therecalldesk.com/category/food)
- [Drugs](https://therecalldesk.com/category/drugs)
- [Medical devices](https://therecalldesk.com/category/medical-devices)
- [Vehicles](https://therecalldesk.com/category/vehicles)
- [Consumer products](https://therecalldesk.com/category/consumer-products)

## Agencies covered

- [FDA](https://therecalldesk.com/agency/fda) — Food, drugs, medical devices
- [USDA FSIS](https://therecalldesk.com/agency/usda) — Meat, poultry, processed egg products
- [CPSC](https://therecalldesk.com/agency/cpsc) — Consumer products
- [NHTSA](https://therecalldesk.com/agency/nhtsa) — Vehicles, tires, child seats
- [EPA](https://therecalldesk.com/agency/epa) — Auto emissions, pesticides

## Reference + education

- [Glossary](https://therecalldesk.com/glossary) — 30 plain-English definitions (Class I/II/III, NHTSA Campaign Number, Listeria, Salmonella, etc.)
- [FAQ](https://therecalldesk.com/faq) — consumer questions (what to do if recalled, refund process, vehicle remedy)
- [Recall classifications explainer](https://therecalldesk.com/learn/recall-classifications)
- [How recalls work — life cycle](https://therecalldesk.com/learn/how-recalls-work)
- [Pathogen risk guide](https://therecalldesk.com/learn/pathogen-risk-guide)
- [Methodology](https://therecalldesk.com/methodology) — severity rubric + FAQ
- [About the site](https://therecalldesk.com/about)

## Machine-readable indexes

- [Sitemap index](https://therecalldesk.com/sitemap.xml)
- [Full content for LLM context](https://therecalldesk.com/llms-full.txt)