on a consumer’s eating habits. Therefore, companies should be prepared to execute recalls smoothly. They should also be prepared to clearly communicate with consumers
during recalls, particularly if their products are not affected.
Supply Chain Complexity
The growing complexity of modern supply chains makes it possible to ship food
products—and any accompanying contamination—to multiple food producers and retailers within hours. Such was the case with the peanut-related Salmonella outbreak
mentioned previously, as recalls quickly spread from bulk peanut butter to cookies
and crackers to trail mix and Pad Thai.
With each handoff in the food supply
chain, it becomes even more difficult to
trace the contaminated products. This
places an additional burden on manufacturers, distributors and retailers to capture
data and track ingredients, not just within
their own facilities, but also up and down
the supply chain.
Not all organizations, however, are prepared to shoulder such a burden. In March
2009, Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector
general of the Department of Health and
Human Services, reported that federal
health inspectors had found that the majority of food manufacturers and distributors
are unable to identify suppliers or recipients of their products, despite federal rules
that require them to do so. Additionally, one quarter of the food facilities contacted in
the course of this study were not even aware that they were supposed to be able to
trace their suppliers.
research and education programs, and
seeking increased industry guidance to
better respond to food safety and consumer protection issues.
In Europe, the EU Food Law was
passed in 2002, and the European Food
Safety Authority was established to enforce it. Similarly, Canada passed the
Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan
“With a flurry of new food safety
regulations on the horizon, companies
have the opportunity to discover more
efficient and effective methods of
Globalization further compounds food safety concerns, as international sourcing
shifts more and more activities beyond a company’s direct control. This, of course, introduces more risk points throughout the supply chain.
Cultural and economic differences contribute to the food safety problem as well.
Different geographic markets have different beliefs and experience with food safety
risks, which results in various levels of safety measures and quality control mechanisms. And poorer economies simply may not have the capital to implement or enforce the appropriate food safety controls. In short, the more remote a product’s
origin (or its ingredients), the greater the potential risk.
Similarly, the broader the market, the more damage a contaminated product can
cause. For example, a single region in California now provides more than half the
spinach consumed in North America. So it is easy to see how the packaged spinach
E. coli scare in 2006, which originated in San Benito County, CA, resulted in an outbreak that was felt in 26 states.
Or consider the broad distribution of pet food manufactured in China. In 2007,
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was notified of widespread sickness
and deaths of dogs and cats across the U.S. The FDA traced the products to China
and discovered that a portion of the pet food was even used to create feed for animals
and fish destined for human consumption. Ultimately, the recall affected China, the
U.S., Canada and South Africa. Although global recalls of food for human consumption have been rare, the risk of a global food safety issue is significant.
Political and Regulatory Responses
Governments around the globe have taken note of these factors. As a result, they
are working to implement tougher food safety legislations, upping their investments in
and Food Labeling Initiative in 2007,
and a new Canadian Food Safety Act
was proposed in 2009.