Food companies must bring “A” game when handling recall - Stericycle
The company that helps brands manage recalls said it advised clients to be as transparent as possible and ensure communication is clear and consistent.
Bacterial and viral food contamination accounted for more than 250 recalls from January 2014 through September 2015.
For all of 2014 and 2015, there were about 315 recalls. A similar number of events were witnessed in both years but the number of affected units and pounds increased significantly from 2014 to 2015.
FDA-regulated products recalled due to bacterial or viral contamination rose from five million units in 2014 to more than 7.8 million in 2015.
These causes affected USDA products, making up more than 4.6 million pounds in 2015 – a figure nearly two times greater than 2014’s 2.5 million pounds.
Difficult to pinpoint trends
Kevin Pollack, VP of recalls at Stericycle, said recall trends are often difficult to pinpoint.
“Some contamination issues from 2015 originated along products’ supply chains, causing a multiplier effect,” he told FoodQualityNews.
“As we discussed in our Q1 2015 Index, this effect begins with a contaminated product being sold and used as an ingredient in multiple other products.
“This can greatly expand the size and scope of a single recall as it would trigger additional recalls for each product impacted.”
Listeria played a major role in FDA contamination recalls, accounting for 65% of contaminated units.
Salmonella and E. coli were responsible for 32% and 2% of contaminated unit recalls respectively.
Excluding cheese, dairy products were 30% of all contaminated units recalled. Of the 120 companies that suffered a FDA recall due to contaminants, 11 experienced multiple recalls.
About 93% of all USDA contamination related product recalls were due to Salmonella, affecting over 4.3 million pounds of recalled products during 2015. This is more than ten times higher than it was in 2014, when Salmonella accounted for nearly 400,000 pounds of affected product.
Poultry was most affected by contaminants, accounting for 80% of all contaminant related recalls.
Deepen loyalty by making customers feel they are the priority
After a recall, it’s important to make sure the brand restores faith in their company, said Pollack.
“Brand loyalty is a key part of today’s economy and it’s up to companies to regain their reputation and the respect of shoppers. Having an open and transparent recall is critical, as consumers tend to be more understanding if the brand takes responsibility for its actions. People can be very forgiving,” he said.
“Acknowledging the problem and taking the steps to make sure it does not happen again will go a long way in maintaining customer loyalty to that brand.
“The ultimate outcome of any recall will depend largely on the manufacturer’s actions, and how quickly and effectively they accomplish three goals — protect the public, protect the brand, and close the recall as soon as possible.”
For the FDA, recalls are down, but units increased significantly. There were about 522,000 units recalled in Q3 2014, and more than 2.3 million in Q3 2015 - most due to Listeria.
USDA recalls stayed relatively consistent, but the number of pounds recalled increased.
In Q3 2014, there were nearly 266,000 pounds recalled due to contaminants. In Q3 2015, that total jumped to more than 4.37 million pounds with most due to Salmonella.
Stericycle said as the health food industry continues to grow in popularity and demand, so will the chance of recall and additional supplement industry oversight could drive up recalls in that sector.
It added it is witnessing common health food terms such as whole wheat, fat-free, light, sugar-free, and others growing more common within health food industry-related recalls.
