Food Recalls as a tool to manage safety incidents

To commemorate the World Food Safety Day 2024, I figured it was important to discuss Food Recalls, a tool I consider very fundamental in managing safety in the industry.

As a brief definition, a food recall is the voluntary action taken by a food producer to withdraw unsafe or violative food products from the market shelves or the hands of the consumers.

Sometimes, regardless of the number of safety measures implored by food manufacturers to ensure that their products are safe, unsafe food products or products below the legislative standards often find their way into the market.

It can be frustrating but the manufacturer has to do what needs to be done!

When such unsafe or substandard product leaves the factory into the market, they must be called back from the consumers or removed from the shelves. And that removal process is what is known as a food recall.

Food recall is a fundamental tool in the management of risks in response to food safety emergencies, and it can occur at any point in the food supply chain.

It is in the interest of the consumers, of government and as well as the firm which produced the embattled food. Usually, the channel of distribution and the extent of distribution determine the approach of the food recall procedure.

Here are some of the causes of Food recalls, and some key points to note about the process:

– Presence of foreign matter
– Bacterial contamination
– Chemical contamination
– Mislabelling
– Misbranding
– Undeclared allergy or ingredients
– Illnesses identified by the health authorities
– Sabotage and tempering .
– Supplier’s notification.
– Under-processing
– Packaging defects

The food business operator bears the sole responsibility of initiating a recall, monitors to ensure compliance to the recall process and the success of the recall and also the safety of the subsequent batches.

The food authorities like NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) and SON (Standard Organisation of Nigeria) can alert the public even before a recall process is initiated, especially if such product can pose a health hazard.

After the recall is completed, the authority ensures that the product is destroyed or suitably improved on. When it’s associated with severe defects, the license of the firm is often reviewed.

It is important that the recalled food can be properly identified and traced in order to retrieve it from the market.

Information about the product such as nature of the product, brand name, product name, description of the product including colour and package size, nature of packaging material, batch/ serial number, use by date and best before dates, must be provided by the food manufacturer for proper identification.

The consumers are expected to adhere and ensure compliance to the recall knowing that it is for everyone’s safety. Do not eat the product, instead return it to the place of purchase or dispose it properly.

All participants in modern supply chains are expected to have effective practices in place that allow for the rapid identification, location, and withdrawal of food lots when problems are suspected or confirmed.