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How to File a USDA Foods Complaint

FNS monitors complaints about USDA Foods and coordinates the resolution of health hazards with the FNS Office of Food Safety for states, Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs), and recipient agencies participating in any of the food distribution programs.

Complaint Procedures for Individuals or Local Recipient Agencies

To assist your state distributing agency (SDA) in processing the complaint more quickly, provide the following information to the SDA:

  • Can and case codes;
  • Description of the problem and whether anyone reported feeling sick or being injured from consuming the product;
  • Date your organization received the affected USDA Foods;
  • Quantity of product involved (affected);
  • Quantity and physical address of product remaining and if the remaining product is affected or not;
  • Sales Order Number (formerly Delivery Order Number) and Purchase Order Number (formerly Notice to Deliver Number). These numbers may be on the paperwork received with the USDA Foods shipment. If not, the SDA should be able to obtain them.
  • The specific circumstances involved (for example - "I received the damaged canned products 2 months ago, but the cases were located in the middle of a pallet that could not be seen until the school opened the cases." Or, "the temperature in the delivery truck was 40 degrees when the discolored frozen products were delivered.")
  • Digital photographs of damaged product or foreign objects are helpful.

If you are requesting a replacement, you should retain the unopened product until further notice from the USDA Foods Complaint Specialist at FNS, so that the vendor can exercise his right to examine or retrieve the product.

Complaint Procedures for State Distributing Agencies and Indian Tribal Organizations

The SDA will act on and file complaints in the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) System from eligible program recipients and recipient agencies participating in the following USDA Foods distribution programs:

To file a complaint, the SDA/ITO must enter the information in the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) application. To log into WBSCM, go to https://portal.wbscm.usda.gov, log in and follow instructions for complaint submission. If you have forgotten your password for eAuth, go to the eAuthentication website at https://www.eauth.usda.gov and select the link for a forgotten password.

NOTE to Multi-Food Users: If you usually manage complaints for your organization and are not registered in WBSCM, contact the WBSCM Organization Administrator (Org Admin) for your organization and request that you be added as an user to complete this function in WBSCM. The Org Admin is usually the person that orders USDA Foods for your organization.

Contact the FNS Food Distribution Division USDA Foods Complaint Team

Email us at USDAFoodsComplaints@usda.gov or call us at 1-800-446-6991, Monday - Friday 6:00AM - 5:00PM Eastern Time.

Page updated: January 10, 2024