What to Do When a Product You Own Is Recalled

If a product you own is recalled, find the official notice, confirm your exact item is included and follow the stated remedy. Stop using it unless the notice—or, for certain medicines and medical devices, a health-care professional—directs otherwise. A recall may cover only certain models, lots or production periods. Matching the identifying codes prevents you from discarding an unaffected item or continuing to use a recalled one.

Table of Contents

• Confirm That Your Item Matches
• Follow the Remedy and Prevent Further Use
• Handle Medicines and Medical Devices Carefully
• Check a Vehicle by VIN or Plate
• Use the Right Official Source

Confirm That Your Item Matches

Check more than the product name or brand. The fda advises comparing the model or package size and any listed lot, date, UPC, serial or expiration code because a recall may cover only specified production periods.

Compare every identifier required by the notice: If an identifier does not match, the notice does not establish that your item is included. Look for a more specific official notice rather than relying on a headline or social media post.

• Brand and product name
• Model or package size
• Lot, serial or UPC
• Production, expiration or other listed date

Follow the Remedy and Prevent Further Use

For ordinary consumer products, stop using the item immediately and follow the recall notice. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the remedy will usually be a repair, replacement or refund, and recalls generally have no end date. Do not resell or give away an unrepaired recalled product. The CPSC says selling recalled products is unlawful.

An item repaired through the official remedy may later be sold if the repair is disclosed. If an FDA-regulated product cannot be returned, secure it and follow the notice and local disposal rules. Keep it away from people and animals, then clean the place where it was stored. Never donate recalled food or feed it to people or pets. Return or securely discard it as directed, then wash and sanitize surfaces and utensils that touched the potentially contaminated food.

Handle Medicines and Medical Devices Carefully

A recalled prescription drug is an important exception to the automatic stop-use rule. The FDA says patients generally may continue taking Class II or III recalled medicines unless the company directs otherwise, because stopping treatment can be more harmful. Check the lot and ask a doctor or pharmacist what to do.

A medical-device recall also does not always mean "stop using it." The FDA says the response may involve inspection, adjustment, repair, monitoring or removal. If the device is implanted or essential, contact your health-care provider. Do not independently remove it or discontinue its use based only on a general recall alert.

Check a Vehicle by VIN or Plate

For a vehicle, search by its 17-character vehicle identification number, or VIN, or by license plate. If an open recall appears, arrange the manufacturer's free remedy through a dealer using NHTSA's recall search.

NHTSA warns that its VIN results may omit newly announced recalls, recalls more than 15 years old and recalls from some small manufacturers. A blank result therefore has limits, especially just after a recall announcement.

Use the Right Official Source

Do not depend on one alert page. The FDA says not every recall appears in its public-warning list; its Enforcement Report also provides recall listings.

Agency coverage matters for food. FDA-regulated food does not include meat, poultry or processed egg products, which the Agriculture Department handles. Check the agency identified in the official notice before deciding that no recall exists.

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