Recall Readiness: Lessons Learned & A Look Ahead

Recalls are bound to happen in the food industry. While no organization wants to be at the center of a major outbreak or Class I recall, all organizations throughout the food supply chain must be prepared for this reality. In 2018, we witnessed several high-profile recalls with nationwide impact. From raw foods to cereal snacks, the recalls of 2018 had a major impact on nearly all product categories. This is a major concern.

Consumers count on regulatory bodies and food companies to keep the food that arrives on their table safe and fit for consumption.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses each year in the United States. When there’s a safety issue in the news every other day, consumers have good reason to worry.

As a food company, your reputation is on the line. A recall may give consumers a reason to lose trust in your brand.

Are you prepared?

The most effective way to ensure internal alignment during a major event is to assemble a dedicated recall team. Selecting team members with a clear understanding of your processes (and those of your partners) will be beneficial during the recall and will support internal alignment as new recall processes are developed throughout your organization. 

Conducting mock recalls are also a great way to be prepared for a live recall, because they allow your organization to practice, test and improve processes to ensure you are prepared for a live event.

FoodLogiQ’s Recall + Response solution within FoodLogiQ Connect empowers organizations to respond to food withdrawals and recalls with speed and accuracy. It also offers the ability to test recall effectiveness with unlimited mock recalls.

The features and functionality utilized during a live recall are the exact features and functionality used when conducting mock recalls. FoodLogiQ Connect's Recall + Response enables you to:

• Initiate recalls across all locations simultaneously using email, phone and text.

• Define and Create withdrawal templates in advance to plan and prepare for a variety of recall scenarios.

• Standardize, Manage and Track communications across the supply chain to ensure consistency.

• Gain Real-Time Visibility to the status of each withdrawal and overall completion status in a one-stop dashboard, showing the withdrawal completion percentage and locations of concern that may need additional attention.

• Build in Automatic Escalation if no action is taken by a particular location or contact within a pre-set timeframe.

• Prepare in Advance of an outbreak and subsequent recalls that affect the organization, minimizing the negative impact associated with the products, brand, organization, and customers.

Learn more about preparing for future recalls in our latest e-book, Recall Readiness: Lessons Learned & A Look Ahead. In this e-book we discuss notable recalls of 2018 along with how your organization can take a proactive approach using FoodLogiQ Connect's Recall + Response.