The FDA's recall page added three pages of consumer warnings into Memorial Day week. Malazi tahina was recalled May 18 over an undeclared allergen; Straus Family Creamery pulled five organic ice cream flavors — cookie dough, Dutch chocolate, mint chip, strawberry, and a fifth — May 15 over foreign-material risk; Blackstone's parmesan ranch seasoning was recalled the same day over salmonella concerns tied to powdered milk from California Dairies. [1][2][3]

The plain-English version: the page the agency keeps at fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts is the only continuously-updated public list of what has been pulled from grocery shelves this week. A cookout shopping list — ice cream, ranch dressing, hummus and pita — collides with three open recalls. Consumers who already have the products at home should not eat them; the FDA's standing instructions are to return for a refund or throw out.

The thread under the shelf is bigger. California Dairies' powdered milk has triggered a chain of secondary recalls — seasoning blends, dips, and prepared foods that used the contaminated ingredient — that is still expanding. [4] And the agency itself is between principals. Marty Makary's resignation left an empty chair behind the recall page; nothing about the page's update cadence has changed, but the institution that signs the press release is currently acting. The paper's May 20 brief took the position that the page is the household's instrument; the position holds.

-- NORA WHITFIELD, Chicago