Last refresh: · 25,892 refusals since 2020-01-01

Salmonella in US Food Imports — FDA Import Refusals

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Salmonella appeared in 2,358 FDA import refusals between 2020 and 2026 — 9.1% of the 25,860 refusals that identify a hazard. The origins cited most often are India, Mexico, Vietnam. The most-affected product category is Fishery/Seafood Products. Volume in 2025 was up 20% on 2024.

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Salmonella notifications by year

YearNotificationsof which border rejectionsYoY
2020 298 298 —
2021 386 386 +29.5%
2022 337 337 -12.7%
2023 289 289 -14.2%
2024 362 362 +25.3%
2025 434 434 +19.9%
2026 252 252 — YTD
Total2,358

Origins most cited for Salmonella

#Origin countryNotifications
1 India 822
2 Mexico 198
3 Vietnam 187
4 Indonesia 120
5 Thailand 88
6 Bangladesh 84
7 Turkey 72
8 Jordan 66
9 China 50
10 Myanmar 49
11 Nigeria 39
12 Lebanon 36
13 Pakistan 35
14 Canada 33
15 Philippines 31
16 Brazil 30
17 Ghana 27
18 Taiwan 25
19 Syria 23
20 United Arab Emirates 23
21 Israel 21
22 Ecuador 20
23 Egypt 20
24 Guatemala 19
25 Jamaica 19
26 Kenya 17
27 Paraguay 17
28 Fiji 13
29 Spain 13
30 Bolivia 12

Product categories where Salmonella appears

#Product categoryNotifications
1Fishery/Seafood Products689
2Spices, Flavors, and Salts571
3Nuts and Edible Seeds352
4Fruit and Fruit Products172
5Vegetables and Vegetable Products169
6Snack Food Items (Flour, Meal, or Vegetable Base)164
7Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum50
8Vitamins, Minerals, Proteins, and Unconventional Dietary Specialties for Humans38
9Bakery Products, Doughs, Bakery Mixes, and Icings36
10Multiple Food Dinners, Gravies, Sauces, and Specialties (Total Diet)31
11Whole Grains, Milled Grain Products, and Starch19
12Coffee and Tea15
13Meat, Meat Products, and Poultry13
14Macaroni and Noodle Products9
15Chocolate and Cocoa Products7

Recent Salmonella notifications

About Salmonella

Salmonella is charged under FD&C Act Section 402(a)(1) as a poisonous and deleterious substance that may render food injurious to health; its presence is treated as adulteration outright, without a numeric threshold a shipment can fall under. It is the most frequently charged microbiological hazard in FDA import refusals and turns up across a wide range of commodities — spices, sesame and other seeds, nuts, poultry and seafood, and ready-to-eat products — reflecting both how widely it survives processing and how closely shipments are tested.

Which FDA import refusals does this page count?

Every entry FDA refused that cites this hazard among its charge codes. A single entry can carry more than one charge, so an entry refused for both a pathogen and a labelling defect is counted on both the relevant hazard page and, separately, in the hazard/paperwork split shown on the leaderboard.

What happens when this hazard is found in a shipment?

The entry is refused admission into US commerce. The importer must recondition the shipment (where that is possible), export it out of the United States, or have it destroyed under FDA supervision. Repeated findings against one shipper or product can lead FDA to place them on an Import Alert, which subjects future shipments to detention without physical examination.

Where does this data come from?

The public FDA Import Refusal Report, refetched weekly. Counts are per entry (consignment), so one entry listing several charge codes for the same hazard is counted once.