From frozen foods to pacifiers, it’s been a busy year for product recalls. But that’s not necessarily unusual. According to the New York Times, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, on average, announces a recall on at least one product every day. And the United States Department of Agriculture reported at least 150 different food recalls in 2015. But what goes into the decision to recall a product?

The answer depends on the product — and the government agency regulating the industry the product is part of.

Under the Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has the authority to issue a mandatory recall. But that authority is only used in rare cases, according to Dawn Pyatt, a public affairs specialist with the FDA.

“In every case, mandatory or voluntary, the FDA’s role is to oversee a company’s strategy and assess the adequacy of the recall,” Pyatt said.

Recalls can originate with the company producing the food item, the Centers for Disease Control — which hears from state health departments that have received illness reports — or through other reporting systems.

“When a regulated product is either defective or potentially harmful, recalling that product, removing it from the market or correcting the problem is the most effective means of protecting the public,” Pyatt said.

Recalls also can happen for a wide variety of reasons, from “something as simple as a labeling error on the packaging or as complex as a microbial contamination somewhere along a vast globalized supply chain,” says Roland Friedli, a risk engineer at Swiss Re, a reinsurance company that recently published a study examining the costs of food recalls to businesses worldwide.

According to Pyatt, a food product recall usually involves the following steps, which may vary according to local laws:

• The maker or dealer notifies the authorities responsible of their intention to recall a product. In some cases the government can also request a recall of a product. Consumer hotlines or other communication channels are established. The scope of the recall, that is, which serial numbers or batch numbers etc. are recalled, is often specified.

• Product recall announcements are released on the respective government agency’s webiste (if applicable), as well as in paid notices in metropolitan daily newspapers. In some circumstances, heightened publicity will also result in television news reports advising of the recall.

• When a consumer group learns of a recall it will also notify the public by various means.

• Typically, the consumer is advised to return the goods, regardless of condition, to the seller for a full refund or modification.

• Avenues for possible consumer compensation will vary depending on specific laws governing consumer trade protection and the cause of the recall.