The 2025 Recall Index Report for the first quarter has been released by Sedgwick, a brand protection firm. The report highlights a slightly lower number of product recall events compared to the previous quarter’s report. But the shocking aspect was the observation of higher recall volume. Among different categories, consumer products had the highest recall number.
Highlights
- Sedgwick released its Q1 2025 Recall Index on Thursday, detailing product recall trends across major industries.
- Despite a slight decrease in the number of recall events, the total volume of products recalled increased by 25% compared to the previous quarter.
- The report is divided into 5 categories under which recall events took place, among which consumer products had the highest number.
Recall Events Fell, But the Volumes Surged
The 2025 first quarter report regarding product recalls in the U.S.A. was released on Thursday by the Sedgwick brand protection firm. This quarter witnessed fewer product recall events at 775 as compared to the last quarter of 2024.
However, there was a contrasting observation as well. Though the number of events decreased marginally, the volume or number of products recalled increased by 25%. There is no clear reason cited for this observation, but the report highlighted that a change in policies due to a change in the administrative authorities can affect further processes in each industry.
Emerging regulations in areas like automotive emissions, artificial intelligence, and food safety are expected to impact recall trends and industry compliance strategies moving forward.
Sector Highlights: Consumer Products Lead
The recall data for the first quarter was not only analyzed collectively, but changes across five categories were also compared to the last quarter report of 2024. These categories include automotive, consumer products, medical device industries, food and drink, and pharmaceuticals.
The reported 25% surge was mainly due to the pharmaceutical and food and drink sectors. Among these, consumer products reported the highest recall number, 101, in the last 14 years. Other sectors, such as automotive and medical devices, had a 13% and 9% decline in recalls.
The senior vice president of Sedgwick stated that the complex and unpredictable market situation in the country is due to tariff and other trade policy changes is now clearly visible. This has posed issues for businesses as they are experiencing setbacks in certain areas and stringent regulations in others.
