# FDA Recalls Scraper — Drug, Device & Food (`ponderable_hydrometer/fda-recalls-scraper`) Actor

Track FDA drug, device and food recalls via the official openFDA API. Filter by date, class or firm. Structured data: firm, reason, class, status. Free, no key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ponderable\_hydrometer/fda-recalls-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ponderable Hydrometer](https://apify.com/ponderable_hydrometer) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## FDA Recalls Scraper — Drug, Device & Food

Track **FDA recalls and enforcement actions** across drugs, medical devices and food — via the
official **openFDA** API. Filter by date, recall class or keyword and get clean, structured
recall data: recalling firm, reason, classification, product, status and more.

Official free API — no key, no proxies, no anti-bot.

### Who it's for

- **Compliance & regulatory teams** — monitor recalls affecting your products or suppliers.
- **Healthcare, pharma & food companies** — competitive and supply-chain risk monitoring.
- **Journalists & researchers** — track recall trends and serious (Class I) events.
- **Alerting / monitoring products** — feed a recall-watch service.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| `categories` | array | all | Any of `drug`, `device`, `food` |
| `dateFrom` / `dateTo` | string | — | Recall report-date range (`YYYY-MM-DD`) |
| `classification` | string | — | `Class I` (most serious), `Class II`, or `Class III` |
| `search` | string | — | Advanced: raw openFDA query (overrides filters) |
| `maxResultsPerCategory` | integer | `500` | Cap per category |

### Output

One row per recall:

```json
{
  "category": "drug",
  "recallNumber": "D-1234-2026",
  "status": "Ongoing",
  "classification": "Class I",
  "recallingFirm": "Haleon US Holdings LLC",
  "productType": "Drugs",
  "productDescription": "…",
  "reasonForRecall": "Chemical Contamination: …",
  "recallInitiationDate": "2026-06-01",
  "reportDate": "2026-06-17",
  "terminationDate": null,
  "city": "…",
  "state": "NJ",
  "country": "United States"
}
```

### Notes & limits

- Official openFDA enforcement API — free, public, no key or anti-bot; paginated automatically.
- Drug, device and food share one schema, so results are directly comparable across categories.
- For field-level queries use `search` (openFDA syntax), e.g.
  `recalling_firm:"Pfizer"+AND+classification:"Class+I"`.
- Public data; you are responsible for compliant use of the output.

# Actor input Schema

## `categories` (type: `array`):

Which recall categories to fetch: drug, device, food. Empty = all three.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Optional earliest recall report date.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

Optional latest recall report date.

## `classification` (type: `string`):

Optional recall class filter: "Class I" (most serious), "Class II", or "Class III".

## `search` (type: `string`):

Raw openFDA query (overrides the filters above). Example: recalling\_firm:"Pfizer"+AND+classification:"Class+I"

## `maxResultsPerCategory` (type: `integer`):

Cap on recalls returned per category.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "categories": [
    "drug",
    "food"
  ],
  "dateFrom": "2026-01-01",
  "maxResultsPerCategory": 500
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "categories": [
        "drug",
        "food"
    ],
    "dateFrom": "2026-01-01"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ponderable_hydrometer/fda-recalls-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "categories": [
        "drug",
        "food",
    ],
    "dateFrom": "2026-01-01",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ponderable_hydrometer/fda-recalls-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "categories": [
    "drug",
    "food"
  ],
  "dateFrom": "2026-01-01"
}' |
apify call ponderable_hydrometer/fda-recalls-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=ponderable_hydrometer/fda-recalls-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/4NYq7y45TkSaWaVGN/builds/RbcvhEHUBIhKIhTz8/openapi.json