Recalled Products FAQ
Our FAQ is split into the follow sections:
Questions about this website
Who is responsible for RecalledProducts.org?
RecalledProducts.org is run by CF Labs.
CF Labs is a team that builds online tools and services to make people's dealings with companies fairer and simpler, or to improve access to important information and data. You can find out more about all of our projects including Recalled Products on our website.
CF Labs is the innovation arm of Consumer Focus, the statutory consumer champion for England, Wales, Scotland and (for postal consumers) Northern Ireland. We operate across the whole of the economy, persuading businesses and public services to put consumers at the heart of what they do.
You can contact CF Labs at team@consumerfocuslabs.org.
What does this website do?
It gives details of product recalls issued by manufacturers and allows users to stay up to date with new recall notices through email alerts and rss feeds.
If there's already a product recalls web site, why did you build this one?
We built it to demonstrate other methods of making the data accessible to consumers. We included an email alerts facility & rss capability as well as a keyword search.
Do you list every EU & UK product recall?
Unfortunately the European Commission data is by no means exhaustive - there other sources of recalls that are not currently included in the set.
Questions about the information on this website
Where does the data come from?
We use data published by the European Commission on their Consumer Affairs, RAPEX web pages.
How reliable is the data you provide?
The Product Recall data used on this site is sourced from the European Commission's RAPEX system and as such CF Labs cannot guarantee its completeness or currency. We encourage users of this site to refer to the original notice on the RAPEX website if in doubt. If you are concerned about a particular product we recommend you contact your local Trading Standards office.
Do you remove items from the site?
Our policy is to keep "removed" recalls on the site to avoid confusion over their status. If an item is deleted from the site, users cannot be sure of its status especially when other websites may continue to list the item as recalled.
When an item is removed by the European Commission's RAPEX system, we will automatically mark the item as 'removed' in our database and display this notice clearly on the site (you can see an example of where we have done this here). We will also prevent them from appearing in widgets, RSS feeds and email alerts as the data contained in these services might be re-used by third parties.
Are you going to add more information to this service?
We are currently looking at incorporating data from additional sources. We will be posting updates on our blog.Questions about registering for email alerts
I've signed up for email alerts, how do I unsubscribe?
At the bottom of each email you receive there is a link to unsubscribe from that alert. Just click on it and we'll delete your alert. You can re-register for alerts at any time.
If I signup for an alert, what do I receive?
You will receive an email from us either weekly or monthly (depending on the option you select) containing the details of all recalls made since we last sent you a message. An example of the email is available here.
What is your privacy policy?
Please see our dedicated page on privacy.
Questions for developers
Can I help?
You certainly can. We welcome any offers to write screen scrapers to search these alternative sources for inclusion on this site.
Can I use the code for this site for my own project?
Absolutely - we've released the code on Github.
Can I resuse the data on this website?
Please see our about page for information.
