The FDA removed 59,420 food facilities from its registration database in January 2021, resulting in a 25% decrease in the total number of food facilities registered with agency. As reported here, food facilities are required to renew their FDA registrations between October 1 and December 31 of each even numbered year. FDA considers registrations that are not renewed by the deadline to be “expired” and removes facilities that did not renew shortly after each renewal period.
As of January 5, 2021, Registrar Corp reports that 182,147 food facilities remained in FDA’s database compared to the 241,567 registered in December 2020. There was a 19% decrease in food facilities registered in the U.S. When combined, food facilities located outside of the U.S. saw a significantly higher decrease of 29%. Exporting countries with the highest number of registrations removed include China, Mexico, Italy and Japan. To see the registration totals broken down by country, click here.