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Are You Practicing Effective Food Recall Management?
Every year in the U.S., 48 million people become ill as a result of foodborne contaminants, deliberate contamination and economic adulteration, according to the CDC. Of these 48 million, 128,000 people are hospitalized, and approximately 3,000 die. The CDC also estimates that about 70% of investigations are never resolved at the state level. This news is quite unsettling; according to Food Safety Magazine, manufacturers should review and evaluate current recall management practices in an effort to improve upon these statistics. For manufacturers, reducing the likelihood of a product recall is also key in protecting your brand. Here are a few facts you may (or may not) find surprising:
- Excluding lost sales and brand damage for companies, the average cost of a recall is $10 million
- Of companies surveyed, the execution of a recall takes days or weeks for 52% of companies; the other 48% can implement a recall in hours
- The population in the U.S. is fast becoming more susceptible to serious illness caused by contaminated foods, because nearly 1/4 of the population is made up of young children, the elderly, and pregnant women
- Maintain a current contact/customer list to ensure quick initiation of a recall
- Know your suppliers, and your suppliers' suppliers
- Simulate a product recall "practice" exercise to determine where there may be gaps which prolong or prevent a recall of products
- Consider one critical element of traceability - review of access procedures and records maintenance
- Rather than a broad stroke approach, develop a targeted approach to product recalls by enabling lot level tracking in warehouse management systems; this approach should trace lot level allocation to specific customers/channels/orders.
- Use tools available for vulnerability assessment such as those available on FDA.gov to evaluate and compare the adequacy of your current food defense programs
