The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has an Electronic Consumer Complaint Reporting Form that anyone can use to file a complaint. The form covers any incident of “reports of illness, injury, foreign objects, contamination (including chemical contamination), allergic reactions, and improper labeling” associated with meat, poultry, or processed egg products. Those are the foods governed by the USDA.
Consumers are the last line of defense in food safety. Even though corporations and food manufacturers must file an HACCP plan and adhere to food safety standards, contamination, improper labeling, and unsafe foods are produced all the time. This reporting system may help prevent injuries and illnesses by alerting public health authorities to a problem quickly.
You can also call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline directly at 1-888-674-6854. The hotline is staff by food safety experts Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Eastern time.
For all other complaints or problems with food, you can contact the FDA in your state. A list of the phone numbers for Consumer Complaint Coordinators is posted at the FDA web site.
Any time I ever tried to make a complaint by calling the FDA phone number, it was a lost cause. I always got a recording saying for me to leave a message, and I would be contacted. Like when hell freezes over. No one has ever called back from the FDA office in my state.