About the data

PlainRecords collects recall records from three U.S. government agencies (FDA, CPSC and NHTSA) and groups them by brand, by hazard and by vehicle, so you can see a brand's full recall history on one page.

Where the records come from

• FDA enforcement reports for food, drugs and medical devices, from June 2012. Each product in a recall is a separate record; we group them back into one recall.
• The FDA medical device recall database, for device recalls from 2002 and for each recall's root cause and what the company told its customers.
• CPSC recall notices for consumer products such as toys, furniture and appliances, from 1973.
• NHTSA recall campaigns for vehicles, tires, child seats and vehicle equipment, from 1966.
• Company recall announcements posted by the FDA, so a food, drug or device recall shows up the day it is announced. The FDA enforcement report for the same recall usually follows a few weeks later and is listed as its own record. We list the facts (brand, product, reason, date) and link to the full announcement.

We download the records every day and rebuild the site. We show what the agencies published: old all-capital text in sentence case, very long fields shortened at a word with "…", and a link to the full record.

Canada

The Canadian section (/ca/) shows Health Canada's recalls and safety alerts open data (food recalls from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, vehicle recalls from Transport Canada, and consumer products, drugs and medical devices from Health Canada), as published, with a link to each official notice. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Visitors in Canada are shown the Canadian section first; the link at the top switches between the two. Recalls are sorted into five sections by who published them (food: the CFIA; vehicles: Transport Canada; drugs and health products, medical devices and consumer products: Health Canada, by its own category). Category and issue pages use Health Canada's words; where it lists several in one field (for example "Car - SUV"), the recall appears under each. Vehicle pages by make, model and model year come from Transport Canada's Motor Vehicle Safety Recalls Database. Companies and brands are the ones Health Canada names in each notice's "Companies" and "Brand(s)" fields, as written.

United Kingdom

The UK section (/uk/) shows product safety alerts, reports and recalls from the Office for Product Safety and Standards and drug and device alerts from the MHRA (both published on GOV.UK), and food alerts from the Food Standards Agency, as published, with a link to each official notice. Types, product categories, allergens and businesses are the agencies' own fields. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

European Union

The EU section (/eu/) shows every alert from Safety Gate, the European Union's rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products, as the European Commission publishes it in its weekly reports (one every Friday since 2005). The reports are open data on data.europa.eu under the CC0 1.0 licence. Each alert shows the Commission's fields as written (product, brand, model, barcode, risk, danger, measures, notifying country) and links to the alert on the Safety Gate portal, where the photos are. PlainRecords is not affiliated with the European Commission or any national authority.

NHTSA investigations

Vehicle pages also list NHTSA defect investigations as NHTSA recorded them. An investigation is not a finding that a defect exists.

How brands are matched

A recall is listed under a brand only when the agency record names that company as the one that filed it (for a vehicle, the make). We do not guess: a brand named in a product description, a store where it was sold or a similar company name does not put a recall on a brand page (from 10/10/2026). Company names are shown without legal forms such as "Inc." or "LLC", so one company can appear under more than one name, and two companies with the same name can share a page. "Sold at" store pages use the store list in CPSC recall notices. If you spot a mistake, tell us.

What this site is not

PlainRecords is independent and is not affiliated with the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA or any brand. A recall record is not a finding that a product hurt anyone. For the official notice, follow the agency link on each record. For a vehicle, check your VIN with the manufacturer or NHTSA.

Contact: host@plainrecords.com