Guide

Product recalls in the UK: OPSS, FSA and DVSA

The UK splits recalls across three main authorities, by product type. Since leaving the EU’s Safety Gate system, Great Britain runs its own alert channels, so UK consumers should check UK sources — an EU alert does not automatically mean a UK recall, and vice versa.

General consumer products: OPSS

The Office for Product Safety and Standards publishes product safety alerts, reports and recalls on GOV.UK — toys, electronics, cosmetics, furniture and similar. Enforcement on the ground involves local Trading Standards services.

Food: the FSA

The Food Standards Agency publishes alerts in three flavours: Product Recall Information Notices (the product is being recalled from consumers), Allergy Alerts (undeclared allergens — the most common trigger), and the rarer Food Alerts for Action aimed at enforcement authorities. You can subscribe to FSA alerts by email or SMS.

Vehicles: the DVSA

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency oversees vehicle safety recalls and operates a free checker where you can look up outstanding recalls by registration or model. Recall repairs are normally carried out free of charge by the manufacturer’s network — the DVSA-agreed code of practice says recall work should be free no matter how old the vehicle is.

A note on Northern Ireland

Under the post-Brexit arrangements, certain EU product rules continue to apply in Northern Ireland, so some EU Safety Gate alerts remain directly relevant there. When in doubt, check both the UK channels and the EU alert.

Browse our UK recall index — it aggregates DVSA, FSA, OPSS and related records with links to each official notice.