How recalls and outbreaks are connected

Recall and outbreak pages on Public Health Trace often list each other, but not every listed connection carries the same weight. This guide explains the two kinds of relationship shown across the site, and how to tell which one you're looking at.

Confirmed relationships

A confirmed relationship means the specific recall and the specific outbreak investigation have an explicit, recorded link -- either published directly by the source agency, or established by Public Health Trace from fields both records share that uniquely identify the same real-world event. This is never a guess based on similar wording. Confirmed relationships are always labeled explicitly wherever they appear, for example:

• "Confirmed recalls" on an outbreak investigation page
• "Linked outbreak investigation" on a recall page
• "Confirmed outbreak investigations" on a company or state page
• "Outbreaks with confirmed recalls" on a food page

Text-matched associations

Some sections -- most notably a food page's general recall list, currently in beta -- show records that mention the same food name or similar wording, without a verified, explicit link between the specific records shown. Two recalls and outbreaks can mention the same food or company by coincidence without being about the same real-world event. Wherever this weaker kind of association is shown, the page labels it accordingly (for example, "Beta matching" or "recall matching in progress") rather than presenting it as confirmed.

Why the distinction matters

A confirmed relationship is a specific, verifiable claim: this recall and this outbreak are the same event. A text match is a starting point for your own research, not a verified fact. If you're citing a connection between a recall and an outbreak, check whether the page labels it as confirmed, and always verify against the official source records linked from each page.

Related state-level relationships

A state's page also shows CDC announcements and companies connected to that state through an explicit, normalized relationship (for example, a case reported in that state, exposure that occurred there, or a recalled product distributed there) -- these are separate from the recall-outbreak relationships above, but follow the same principle: only a specific, recorded relationship is shown, never an inferred one.

For what an outbreak investigation's own fields (status, provisional flag, case counts) mean, see how to read an outbreak investigation. For how data is imported and normalized in general, see our methodology page.