The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) recently released a whitepaper entitled “Recall Modernization: Accelerated Partnering for Effective Recalls.” The whitepaper calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to explore new approaches to policy and foundational practices for recalls, and provides recommendations for recall modernization based on three years of collected data and information. To craft these recommendations, AFDO explores two fundamental issues associated with food recalls: consumers continuing to eat recalled foods and becoming ill, and recalls being issued too late to prevent additional illnesses.
AFDO’s extensive list of recommendations relate to policy, training, communication, recall management, and culture. Specifically, AFDO stresses the need to establish clear expectations for roles and responsibilities with partners; the necessity of unrestricted information sharing between regulatory partners; and providing standardized interpretation of FDA guidance, directives, and internal policies for all relevant parties. The organization hopes FDA and other stakeholders will use the whitepaper to update policies, align staff members, develop new approaches to information sharing, provide law and guidance training, enhance the transparency of communications, and build effective partnerships.