Recalls: When Time is of the Essence

In recent months, produce items such as cantaloupes, mangos and onions have been the center of a storm. In the worst-case scenario, the food safety equivalent of a tornado warning, the product has actually made someone sick. In other cases that resemble a tornado watch, testing has revealed the existence of contamination or product is recalled as a precaution. 

Sick people and positive tests spark food recalls, which involve a variety of players with one goal: to quickly find and remove the products that are suspected of causing the illness.

Recalls fall into three categories, according to Mansour Samadpour, president of IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group. 

Self-inflicted recalls are those caused because of poor testing programs that fail to stop contaminated products from entering the supply chain.

Regulatory-based recalls are triggered by samples conducted by a federal or state regulator.

“Caught-in-the crossfire” recalls arise when a commodity from one company is recalled that is used as an ingredient in another company’s product.

There are two other ways to classify recalls.

In an outbreak-related recall, sickened people go to hospitals or doctors, which them identify the nature of the illness and involve state health departments and epidemiologists.

“A very small percentage of outbreaks are actually identified,” said Samadpour.  “In the majority of cases, they do not have the resources to go in and identify what the source was. That limits us to only very large outbreaks and large numbers of patients that cannot be ignored.”

In a test-associated recall, a company conducts its own test or sends samples to a laboratory. For example, DFI Marketing in September issued a voluntary recall after a USDA test found salmonella in a single sample of cantaloupe.

Hunting for the Source
The next steps involve precisely identifying the suspected product. In the case of smaller outbreaks, state and local officials take the lead. During large outbreaks, states usually ask the Centers for Disease Control to become involved.

When the hunt begins, regulators and scientists work closely with the food industry. Traceability plays a major role in pinpointing the affected product.

“The very basic information required for a recall is that each company needs to know where the product came from and where the product went to: one step up and one step down,” said Ray Connelly, president and CEO of TrueTrac, which creates agricultural software systems.

In a recall, traceability helps a company achieve immediate and precise recalls. TrueTrac clients use compliance labels on all cases, said Connelly.

“These labels can be used to trace that product right down to the actual crew and location in the field where it came from,” he said.

With produce mixes, the process of identifying the targeted product is more complicated. If a blended product with a certain lot number comes up positive, the finding kick starts a series of questions. What ingredients are in the mix? What kinds of testing were done on raw product and finished product? Is there complete documentation of every step?

“Based on the totality of all these types of information, the company has to make a decision whether to implicate only product that was contaminated and found to be in the lot or to go back and say, ‘This has five ingredients found in 18 other lots of products and so we will recall all of them,” said Samadpour.

Clearing the shelf
At the retail level, the task is to physically locate and remove the product as fast as possible.

At Costco Wholesale, the process begins upon notification by government regulators or suppliers, or when the company itself decides to recall product, said Craig Wilson, vice president of quality assurance and food safety.

“The very first thing we do is to take the item that is at risk out of commerce. We can do that very quickly. We block everything at the registers and communicate to our buildings very quickly across the globe to pull the item off sale,” said Wilson. “We block it so it can’t move through our system and can’t be sold.

“The next things we do is get a list of every single individual who purchased that item and contact those people and tell them not to consume the item that’s under recall.”

Costco distribution centers are provided with disposition instructions for both in-stock items and returns, while supplying USDA and FDA officials with information they need, Wilson added.

At the food company level, the key to a precise and controlled recall is to have enough information to make the right decision.

“It is really important to have open channels for public health agencies, for the FDA and the companies to work very closely together to determine what is the proper course of action,” said Samadpour. “The sooner public health agencies and regulators involve the companies, the better. Time is of the essence.”

By Lee Dean, editorial director