Assessing food sector product recalls

摘要

Given the sheer diversity, complexity and number of food products on our shelves, the food industry's global record on product contamination and recall is encouraging. However, when a company is caught up in an incident requiring a recall, it can represent a catastrophe. The expense, inconvenience and the loss of public confidence is damaging enough. But of course, there is also the issue of solving the problem that led to the recall being necessary. A survey of worldwide recalls from the turn of the year until the end of August, reveals some interesting statistics. Reading Scientific Services (RSSL) reports these regularly in its weekly free email newsletter, Food E-news. RSSL's laboratories also routinely provide analytical support to food manufacturers in order to investigate incidents of chemical or foreign body contamination, and this work is frequently carried out on a priority basis, through membership of its Emergency Response Service. Companies often use the results of such investigative analyses as the basis for deciding what course of action to take when faced with a product crisis.