Food Recalls: Another Important Reason to Have a Sound Traceability Program in your Foodservice Operation

Earlier in the month, I discussed a bit about the proposed traceability rules that may be coming out soon. One result of implementing the proposed rule and improving overall food traceability in your operation is the ability of those in the food chain to quickly identify and pull product involved in a food recall.

If you are in the food or foodservice industry, and have not been impacted by a recall, I would venture to say you have not been paying close attention. Just in the month of June, there have been 14 food-safety related recalls on products used for human consumption. These products ranged from cereal to ground spices.

Most recalls in the United States are voluntary; however, the Food Safety Modernization Act did grant a bit more power to the Food and Drug Administration to shut down an operation to avert a significant public health threat. However, most recalls are initiated by the manufacturer or distributor of the product. In some instances, the company discovers the issue on their own and recalls the product. Other products are recalled after their respective oversight agency (typically the FDA, which oversees 80% of the US food supply, or the United States Department of Agriculture for meat products) is alerted to the issue and contacts the company.

Food recalls are classified by the level of threat to the public, with a class I serving as the highest or medium risk to public health. This is typically where use of the product will likely cause serious, adverse health consequences or death. Class II recalls are classified as a low risk, where the product has a remote possibility of adverse health consequences. A class III recall is classified as marginal risk where use of the product will not cause adverse health effects. An example of a class III recall might be misbranding, where an ingredient, such as monosodium glutamate, may not be declared on the product label, but such an omission would not likely make someone ill.

Just as it only takes one employee to cause a foodborne illness outbreak in a foodservice operation, it only takes missing one recall notification for a product you have in-house to cause catastrophic damage to your operation’s reputation and brand. 

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As I mentioned before, if you have not had to respond to a food recall, you have not been in business very long or you have not been paying attention.  Think about your response to a recall now and establish your plan of action. Do you use technology that can assist in your recall procedures and pulling product from inventory and production? Have you trained your staff to deal with a recall and how to handle sanitation procedures when recalled products are already in production?

Think of the recall of cucumbers, which may have contained Salmonella. Your plans can change drastically if they are only in inventory versus if they have been in production. Worse yet, already served to a guest. If those cucumbers were in vegetable preparation being prepared for consumption, you not only have to ensure they are pulled from inventory and production, but perhaps a full and complete cleaning and sanitation of the kitchen to mitigate cross contamination, and you need to do so in a manner to protect the health of your employees. If those cucumbers have been served to guests, guest notification procedures must be considered, and public relations will become vital to protecting your brand.

Distributors, including USDA if you manage a school and receive commodities, are expected to notify foodservice operations about recalls as soon as possible; however, communication may not always be as fast as we would like or expect.  Thus, it is incumbent upon you as a foodservice manager to stay informed.  You can sign up to receive product recalls via email. Yes, you will get a lot of emails related to recalls.  The majority of the notifications won’t apply to you.  Delete them, but stay on the list are monitor notifications. Just as it only takes one employee to cause a foodborne illness outbreak in a foodservice operation, it only takes missing one recall notification for a product you have in-house to cause catastrophic damage to your operation’s reputation and brand.

Don’t forget to join us next week for our July SafeBites webinar where I will be presenting more information on traceability. It is scheduled for July 21 at 1:00 pm. Risk Nothing.

Sanitation, Sanitation, Where Art Thou?

Continuing the theme I picked up on a few months ago, discussing common causes of foodborne illness, I’d like to focus this blog on cross contamination, more precisely sanitation. Sanitation is another issue that employees don’t often do at home, so they discount the importance of it in the food production environment. That is to say that they have never made someone sick at home because they only clean their countertops and they have likely never sanitized their kitchen, so why is it so important in a foodservice facility?

Is Implementing a Color-Coded Food Safety Plan Right for your Operation?

Foodborne pathogens are by far the most prevalent cause of foodborne illness in the United States and across the world.  There are 31 known agents that cause foodborne illnesses, and more that are unspecified or yet undiscovered – remember, E. Coli 0157:H7 wasn’t identified until the early-1980s. It is estimated each year, 48 million illnesses occur because of these known and unknown pathogens, resulting in over 3,000 deaths.

Maintaining your Equipment: Is it the Missing Ingredient in your Recipe for Food Safety?

Although I am no longer in day-to-day operations, between our students and foodservice lab at the university and my volunteer activities in my local church, I keep a close hand in food production. This past week, I had the opportunity to lead a group of men at our church in preparation of a luncheon for 100 women who were attending a spirituality retreat.  Over the course of the morning, I realized our main cooler in the kitchen was not functioning properly and was about 10˚F above the required temperature.  While we do have a commercial kitchen, we do not routinely log temperatures, so when the unit started to malfunction is questionable.  Even more concerning was not the lunch we were preparing for, but the dinner that was served the night before for 300+ families in the parish.