FoodGuard — Food Safety Intelligence

The Data

Two federal datasets. One establishment score.

USDA FSIS publishes enforcement and recall data across two separate programs. Neither is joined at the establishment level or cross-referenced against labor compliance records. FoodGuard ingests both, links them by establishment number, and cross-references against WorkRecord employer compliance scores.

The result: a complete food safety and operator risk record for every federally inspected meat and poultry establishment — the first federal-source intelligence product purpose-built for food industry procurement and M&A.

FSIS MPI Directory

Every federally inspected meat and poultry establishment in the U.S. — 6,940 records covering company name, address, activities (slaughter vs. processing), grant date, and grant type. The authoritative registry of USDA-regulated food processors.

USDA

FSIS Recall & Public Health Alert Records

1,217 unique recall records spanning 2010–2026 — classification (Class I, II, Public Health Alert), recall reason, pounds recovered, states distributed, and establishment linkage. 824 Class I recalls: products that may cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

USDA

WorkRecord Cross-Reference

1,942 FSIS establishments matched to WorkRecord employer compliance scores via verified EIN. Enables dual-flag identification: establishments with active food safety failures and concurrent federal labor violations. The cross-vertical signal not available from any single-source product.

Cross-Vertical

Intelligence Signals

What the federal food safety record reveals.

Class I Recall History

Products that may cause death or serious injury

FSIS Class I is the highest recall severity — issued when there is a reasonable probability that consuming a product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death. 824 Class I recalls are tracked in FoodGuard. A Class I recall history is a permanent signal in the FoodGuard score regardless of age.

FSIS Recall Records · 2010–2026

Produced Without Inspection

Product manufactured outside the federal inspection system

142 recalls in the dataset involve product that entered commerce without federal inspection coverage. This can result from an lapsed inspection grant, a facility expansion not yet covered under an existing grant, exemption misapplication, or deliberate evasion. Regardless of cause, uninspected product reaching commerce is a serious compliance failure. FoodGuard applies a hard score cap to any establishment with a Produced Without Inspection record.

FSIS Recall Records · Reason Classification

Repeat Class I Pattern

Chronic failure, not isolated incident

47 establishments in the dataset have two or more Class I recalls on record. A single Class I recall may represent an isolated event. Two or more indicates a systemic process control failure — the same category of operator risk that precedes the most significant food safety enforcement actions.

FSIS Recall Records · Establishment Pattern Analysis

Active Recall Flag

Product in circulation right now

22 establishments currently have a recall event within the last 12 months. An active recall means affected product may still be in distribution. FoodGuard flags active recall establishments and caps their tier regardless of historical score — the current state takes precedence over the historical record.

FSIS Recall Records · Current Status

Contamination vs. Labeling

Why the recall happened matters

Not all recall reasons carry the same operator culpability. Product contamination and adulteration (453 records) reflect process control failures. Misbranding and undeclared allergens (323 records) reflect labeling failures. Produced Without Inspection (142) reflects product that entered commerce outside the federal inspection system. FoodGuard weights these differently.

FSIS Recall Records · Reason Classification

Dual Federal Flag

Food safety failure + labor violation

1,942 FSIS establishments are matched to WorkRecord employer compliance scores via verified EIN. Establishments with Class I recall history and a CRITICAL or CITED WorkRecord score represent the highest-risk category — federal food safety failures and federal labor violations at the same operator.

FSIS × WorkRecord · EIN Cross-Reference

Recall Volume

Pounds recalled — not just count

FoodGuard tracks total pounds of product recalled per establishment across all recall events. A single recall of 50 million pounds of ground beef is categorically different from a single recall of 200 pounds of specialty product. Volume-weighted recall history is a supplementary signal alongside the count-based classification in the FoodGuard score.

FSIS Recall Records · Volume Data

Species & Product Type

Beef, poultry, pork — risk profile varies by category

FSIS regulates beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry, catfish, and egg products under separate inspection frameworks. Recall history by product type reveals operator-specific patterns: a beef processor with repeated contamination findings is a different profile from a multi-species facility with isolated labeling issues. FoodGuard tracks product type across all recall events.

FSIS MPI Directory · Product Category Classification

Inspection Activity

Federal inspection coverage and continuity

6,380 FSIS-regulated establishments are scored in FoodGuard. The FSIS Meat and Poultry Inspection Directory documents active inspection grants, plant types (slaughter, processing, combined), and species authorization. Establishments that appear in recall records but lack active MPI directory entries represent the most serious coverage gap in the federal food safety system.

FSIS MPI Directory · Establishment Coverage

The Score

FoodGuard Score

A 100-point composite food safety score. Higher scores indicate lower federal enforcement and recall exposure. Four components weighted by their materiality to procurement, M&A, and insurance buyers. Methodology fully disclosed.

Scores are computed at the establishment level and assigned a risk tier for screener use. Labor signal coverage is disclosed per establishment — 28% of establishments have a verified WorkRecord EIN match.

Safe

Score 75–100. No recall history or isolated minor event with no recurrence. Clean labor signal where available.

Watch

Score 50–74. One or more Class II recalls or aging Class I history. Active recall caps tier at Watch regardless of score.

Flagged

Score 25–49. Class I recall history, repeat recall pattern, or Produced Without Inspection record. Hard override applied.

Severe

Score 0–24. Multiple Class I recalls, active contamination event, or Produced Without Inspection combined with labor violation.

FoodGuard Score and risk tiers are AuditPoint derived analytical outputs — not official USDA or FSIS designations. All inputs are sourced from USDA FSIS federal enforcement and recall data with vintage disclosed per report. Labor signal coverage varies by establishment; data completeness is disclosed in every output.

Recall Severity

Class I, II, and Public Health Alert history with recency weighting. Class I history applies a permanent score floor — the most serious recalls never fully age out of the model.

40%

Recall Frequency & Pattern

Total recall count, repeat Class I events, active recall flag, and total pounds recovered. Chronic recaller pattern weighted separately from single-event history.

25%

Recall Cause

Operator culpability weighting by recall reason. Produced Without Inspection and contamination events carry the highest penalty. Import violations and labeling errors carry lower weight.

20%

Labor Compliance Signal

WorkRecord employer score for EIN-matched establishments. CRITICAL and CITED WorkRecord tiers apply a score penalty. Scores to neutral where no EIN match is available — disclosed per establishment.

15%

Who Uses It

Built for food industry risk decisions.

Procurement & Supply Chain

Food Retailers & Distributors

Screen suppliers against FSIS recall history before contract renewal. School districts, hospitals, and nursing homes procuring from federally inspected facilities face direct liability when a contracted supplier has an active recall.

Score a supplier list against FSIS recall history before RFP

Flag active recall establishments in existing vendor portfolio

Identify suppliers with repeat Class I pattern before contract renewal

M&A & Private Equity

Acquirers & Lenders

Food safety recall history is rarely surfaced in seller diligence. A target's FSIS record — including recalls predating current ownership — represents unpriced liability and brand exposure that belongs in the data room.

Score acquisition targets for FSIS recall and labor exposure

Identify Produced Without Inspection history as a diligence flag

Cross-reference food safety record against WorkRecord labor score

Insurance & Litigation

Insurers & Plaintiff Attorneys

Food product liability insurers pricing recall risk and plaintiff attorneys researching contamination cases both need the same federal record — the establishment's full FSIS enforcement and recall history, joined to its labor compliance profile.

Pull full FSIS recall history for a named establishment

Identify Class I recall pattern for a named processor

Cross-reference recall history against OSHA severe injury record

Sample Findings · June 2026

What 6,380 establishments tell us.

Sourced directly from USDA FSIS federal enforcement data. Verifiable. Citable.

FSIS · Class I Recalls · Universe

824

Class I recalls tracked — products with reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death. 67.7% of all FSIS recall records since 2010.

FSIS Recall Records · 2010–2026

FSIS · Regulatory Evasion · Universe

142

Recalls involving product that entered commerce outside the federal inspection system — whether due to lapsed grants, facility gaps, or evasion. Uninspected product reaching consumers is a serious compliance event regardless of cause.

FSIS Recall Records · Reason Classification

FSIS · Repeat Class I · Universe

Establishments with two or more Class I recalls on record — chronic pattern, not isolated incident. Concentrated in large-scale meat processing. Cross-referenced against federal labor compliance records.

FSIS × WorkRecord · EIN Cross-Reference

FoodGuard.

Two federal datasets. One establishment score.

What the federal food safety record reveals.

FoodGuard Score

Built for food industry risk decisions.

What 6,380 establishments tell us.

Request FoodGuard intelligence.