21 CFR § 117.139 - Recall plan.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t21/s117.139"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "21 CFR § 117.139 - Recall plan."
title_number: 21
title_name: "Food and Drugs"
section_number: "117.139"
section_name: "Recall plan."
chapter_name: "FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION"
part_number: "117"
part_name: "CURRENT GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE, HAZARD ANALYSIS, AND RISK-BASED PREVENTIVE CONTROLS FOR HUMAN FOOD"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "21 U.S.C. 331, 342, 343, 350d note, 350g, 350g note, 371, 374; 42 U.S.C. 243, 264, 271."
regulatory_source: "80 FR 56145, Sept. 17, 2015, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "117"
---


# 117.139 Recall plan.

For food with a hazard requiring a preventive control:

(a) You must establish a written recall plan for the food.

(b) The written recall plan must include procedures that describe the steps to be taken, and assign responsibility for taking those steps, to perform the following actions as appropriate to the facility:

(1) Directly notify the direct consignees of the food being recalled, including how to return or dispose of the affected food;

(2) Notify the public about any hazard presented by the food when appropriate to protect public health;

(3) Conduct effectiveness checks to verify that the recall is carried out; and

(4) Appropriately dispose of recalled food—*e.g.,* through reprocessing, reworking, diverting to a use that does not present a safety concern, or destroying the food.