[aatharuv]

The real problem here is that the FDA is recommending throwing out the butter purely based on the labels.

If they said, "throw out the butter if you (or whomever would have consumed it) have an allergy to milk as this is dairy milk-based butter", or if Costco said, "return it because it was not clear this was a dairy based butter" it would make more sense.

[divbzero]

I don’t think the Forbes article is accurate when it suggests that FDA is urging consumers to “toss your butter in the trash” for this recall.

According to FDA: “Recalls are actions taken by a firm to remove a product from the market. Recalls may be conducted on a firm's own initiative, by FDA request, or by FDA order under statutory authority.” [1]

This particular recall [2] was “Voluntary: Firm initiated” and classified as “Class II” meaning low probability of serious adverse health consequences. The mislabeled product will be removed from the shelves, but I don’t think FDA is recommending throwing out the butter as the Forbes article implies.

[1]: https://www.fda.gov/safety/industry-guidance-recalls/recalls...

[2]: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/index.cfm?Event=...

[akira2501]

> FDA is recommending throwing out the butter

It's a recall. You want to avoid any further confusion. You go with the simplest instructions possible. Just because they recommend you throw it away doesn't mean you actually _have_ to.

> "return it because it was not clear this was a dairy based butter"

What value does returned butter have? It's not something we can refurbish. It would be ultimately be thrown away anyways.

[stainablesteel]

> You go with the simplest instructions possible

I think this kind of messaging is on the way out. Direct communication is possible, and more than ultra simple details can be conveyed.

For the same reason that some people know to avoid certain allergens, others can decide for themselves if they need to.

[pitched]

What are the penalties imposed on a customer who does not throw out their recalled butter? As far as I know, there are none? So with the current messaging, anyone willing to take on this risk by keeping their butter can keep it. People who don’t see that option might not be able to perfectly understand the risk. So, this messaging feels perfectly reasonable to me.

[simoncion]

> The real problem here is that the FDA is recommending throwing out the butter purely based on the labels.

Are they recommending that? This is the ONLY data from the FDA I can find regarding this recall:

<https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/index.cfm?Event=...>

(Notice also that it's a manufacturer-initiated recall.)

Am I missing an FDA press release about the recall?

Also:

> or if Costco said, "return it...

Costco doesn't want the butter back. It would cost way more to verify that it's still sellable than it would be to simply offer a replacement product to affected customers who ask for one.

[deathanatos]

I'm sort of wondering too if this isn't news telephone where each source is plagiarizing the last.

I found this: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/costco-butter-recall/

That links to the two recall notices. (You have found one already.)

  https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/index.cfm?Product=210580
  https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/index.cfm?Product=210581

The article goes on to say,

> General guidelines from the FDA advise consumers who have purchased any recalled food to dispose of the product or return it to the retailer for a full refund.

Which is a bit of a different statement… general guidelines would have to cover things like a recall for E. coli … and isn't perhaps the best advice here. But I'm wondering, did that get twisted into TFA's

> The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is urging customers to check their refrigerators for specific product codes and to follow its disposal instructions if they find affected butter.

…when no specific urging for this is taking place, which is what I think most readers would think?

(But holy heck. Why do those recall notices not appear on the FDA recalls[1] page?)

[1]: https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety...

[simoncion]

> (You have found one already.)

I found both, actually. They're both in the "event" link I provided, but you can't get a detail view for recall F-0122-2025. This seems fine to me, given that all of the data you'd find in the detail view for each seems to be present in the "event" view that displays them both.

> (But holy heck. Why do those recall notices not appear on the FDA recalls[1] page?)

I think because of this: " Press Release Not Issued For This Recall ".

> But I'm wondering, did that get twisted into TFA's...

Oh, that's an excellent spot. Yeah, a game of lazy telephone is probably exactly what happened.

Remember when journalists had more time to do a good job on the articles they chose to submit to their editors?

[jms55]

You aren't missing anything. I tried to find the FDA's press release, including to what the article links to when they're supposedly summarizing what the "FDA alert" says. The linked website is just a general list of FDA alerts, and doesn't list kirkland butter at all.

The same link you posted (FDA event listing) is the only thing I can find directly from the FDA on it, and they don't say "throw out the butter". They just say they're issuing a recall due to mislabeled product, that's it.

[simoncion]

FWIW, you (and I) did not find a press release, because they appear to have not made one. In the recall report, we see this:

"Press Release Not Issued For This Recall"

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one failing to dig up this "Throw all affected products in the trash!" demand.

[dialup_sounds]

As far as I can tell the FDA didn't make that recommendation for this. It's just what they recommend for all recalls:

https://www.foodsafety.gov/recalls-and-outbreaks

If the product details in the recall notice match the details on the food product you have at home, do not open or consume the product. Instead, do one of the following: + Return the product to the place of purchase for a refund. + Dispose of the product following the instructions provided in the recall notice to make sure no one will consume it.

I haven't been able to find a source for the FDA actually making any kind of statement on this recall at all.

[josephcsible]

If that's their official default recommendation, and they didn't say something to the contrary specifically for this recall, then that is what they're recommending for this recall.

[dialup_sounds]

If you want to be pedantic, this recall is not listed there at all, so your logic doesn't apply.

But that's not really the point. The point is that the going narrative is counterfactual.

[snvzz]

Could just be "stick this label".

Throwing out the food is insane, so is trying to justify such a thing.