The Codex Alimentarius Commission defined “Traceability” is the ability to track the movement of food through stages of production, processing, and distribution. Traceability is used as a means to control food hazards, provide reliable product information, and ensure product authenticity.
The importance of product recall
I have a close example like this: You posted an article on Facebook and 3 minutes later You realize that the post has too many spelling errors and problematic content. But you don’t know how to delete a post, so it still remains on the news for a long time, and many people reading and evaluating your post as bad. The same story that you launch a product with many errors into the market and don’t know how to recall, it just… different in the outlook of happenings.
“Product recall” is a very important management issue, it is defined as an action of removing products from the market at any stage of the food chain, even the stage that being consumed by consumers. A food recall is part of risk management to limit damage to food safety emergencies. The recall is essential activity of the national food control system.
As a producer, you are responsible for the quality and safety of the food you process. In the case that have any doubt about the safety of your business products, you must have the ability to remove potentially dangerous products from the market quickly and effectively. This process is called recall. When you recall, acting quickly and effectively will help protect consumers and the reputation of your company. At the same time, recall is also preventing bad effects from defective products.
Scenarios for situations that lead to product recalls
- Products are contaminated with biological, chemical, or physical contaminants.
- There is a notice from the distributor that a range of products contains allergens.
- Results from sampling and inspection programs as specified.
- Results from your own sampling programs
- Complaints from distributors or retailers
- Complaints from consumers
- The product has been copied
Conditions to taking product recall quickly
To effectively monitor the movement of your products, you need a good traceability system that allows you to track your products and their added ingredients through an agricultural process chain. Your production blog must be detailed and accurate enough to track down multiple specific products simultaneously or a specific ingredient or even the additive used in that product.
The main point of the recall
In a recalls situation, the fast response factor is extremely important. That is why it is important to make a plan on how you will respond if your factory is in a situation that the product needs to be recalled. Try using these questions below to set the business ready to face any interactions that lead to the recall.
Supposed questions in a recall situation
- How can you determine the extent of the problem? For example, does it affect only one batch or does it affect multiple batches?
- How can you determine the number of products to recall? For example, how many products are on the market, and how many distributors own the product and location of it?
- How can you clearly communicate recall information to your employees, distributors, and retailers, regulatory officials, media, and consumers (if needed)? How would you respond to relevant parties when they asked about the cause of the recall?
- Who delivers the message?
- How do you prevent the problem from happening again?
- How can you clearly communicate recall information to your employees, distributors, and retailers, media and consumers? How would you respond to relevant parties when they asked about the cause of the recall?
- Who delivers the message?
- How can you make sure that the problem will not happen again?