A US food retailer with over 500 stores across the country, Trader Joe’s has earned cult status for selling taste-bud-thrilling, local specialty foods on a huge scale—and for telling gripping stories about its brands in unusually clever, zeitgeisty ways.

But in the context of the US’s fairly porous food safety system, the chain’s embrace of peculiar tastes means recalls like the latest ones will occasionally happen.

It seems Trader Joe’s issued the recalls voluntarily, as most companies do when a food product is contaminated. The US government’s oversight system leaves a lot of food safety and quality assurance in the hands of private companies. The latter are incentivized to take measures regarding food safety concerns rather than waiting for the government to shut them down. Not only does this protect people’s health, but it also maintains consumer confidence and profitability.

However, the more globalized our food system becomes, the more difficult it gets to ensure its safety.