Food Safety
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Safety
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • White Papers
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
    • Contamination Control
    • Food Types
    • Management
    • Process Control
    • Regulatory
    • Sanitation
    • Supply Chain
    • Testing and Analysis
  • PODCAST
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Food Safety Five Newsreel
    • eBooks
    • FSM Distinguished Service Award
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Videos
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • MORE
    • ENEWSLETTER >
      • Archive Issues
      • Subscribe to eNews
    • Store
    • Sponsor Insights
  • WEBINARS
  • FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issues
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Contact
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
ManagementRecall/Crisis Management

Recalls and the True "Last Mile"

By Vanessa Coffman Ph.D., Mitzi D. Baum M.Sc., Wayne Melichar M.Sc., Diane Letson
volunteer holding food donations box

Credit: RODNAE Productions (rodnae-prod) via Pexels

November 14, 2022

It will come as no surprise to avid Food Safety Magazine readers that we have a beef (pun intended) with the current recall system. This is the third article in a series focusing on how the system is failing those it is meant to serve. The previous articles can be read here1 and here.2 Recall modernization is a food safety policy priority at Stop Foodborne Illness, as the current system is outdated and lacks consistency between regulatory agencies, and the language utilized creates confusion for consumers.

Recalls are the last best hope to remove potentially harmful food from the home pantries of consumers. They also create unintended consequences for the true "last mile"—the food donation pipeline. Stop Foodborne Illness reached out to its partners at Feeding America to provide perspective on an often overlooked, but increasingly critical, part of the recall stakeholder group: food banks and the pantry network. Feeding America estimates that it provided food assistance to over 53 million people in 2021.3 It is a staggering number that increased during the pandemic and has not yielded.

For those not familiar with the food banking system, grocery products suitable for donation are collected from retail stores and then distributed by food banks and food pantries. The Feeding America system of food distribution is a network of 200 food banks that serve 60,000 community food pantries and meal sites.4 Grocery items are donated for many reasons: dented or torn packaging, the calendar date on the package is close to the quality date printed on the item, and excess product. At the retail level, food and grocery donations are made by unit, not in pallet or case quantities, and the retailer typically does not track the donations as they go out the back door.

Recalls in the Food Donation Pipeline 

Feeding America and its network of food banks are still working to manage supply chain disruptions for two food streams: (1) donated food and grocery products, and (2) purchased products that supplement donations and add nutritional benefits. 

Product recalls and withdrawals place an additional burden on food banks when sorting through donated food and grocery products. Recalled items must be removed from inventory, food drives, pantry and meal program orders, and, in some instances, branch warehouses. When a food bank receives information about a recalled product or a withdrawal, volunteers, in conjunction with paid food bank staff, must inspect and sort through potentially hundreds of gaylord bins, banana boxes, and pallets of mixed products to locate the impacted product(s). 

Paid food bank staff alert each volunteer about current recalled product information as part of the onboarding process and during pre-shift meetings. Food banks post recall notices in product sorting areas to ensure that recalled products are not being distributed. This information is also shared with partner food pantries and meal programs via email alerts and an updated online food bank inventory.

For recalls and withdrawal processes, volunteers and food bank staff will separate the product, record the amounts, and then follow the manufacturer's instructions for retrieval, disposal, hold, or another outcome. When a large recall occurs that affects a particular category of food (e.g., peanut butter), food banks may have to remove and dispose of multiple products, leading to low inventory for those types of foods. If a recall snowballs (i.e., when more products are added to the recall over time), it requires much more human resources, as all of the products must continually be resorted to remove the additional impacted products.

Consumers that utilize food pantries to supplement their food needs are adversely impacted by recalls as communication about recalled foods is difficult to access. The food industry considers the retail establishment to be the "last mile"; however, the end of the farm-to-fork continuum extends beyond the store to the food bank and food pantry support system.

The current procedure to alert food banks includes reviewing the daily recall feeds from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and sending them via email to at least two employees of each food bank, in a template that contains the essential information. The food banks then send the notices to their network of community partners; however, these partners are not open every day—some only once a month—and a high percentage of them are run by an all-volunteer staff. It is unknown whether the information gets distributed to those that frequent community pantries and, more specifically, to those who may have received the recalled product.

Recalled shelf-stable and frozen products are an even greater concern as they can remain in consumers' pantries or freezers for many months prior to being consumed. If individuals are frequenting food pantries or shopping only occasionally at retail stores, how do they gain access to recall information? Their "purchases" are not tracked by a store's shopper card, and these individuals may have limited access to the internet to check government websites for recalls. Moreover, many individuals that access food programs live in so-called "food deserts" or "food apartheid areas" and do not have regular access to a retail grocery outlet, which limits their access to recall information that may be posted on store notice boards. 

Another aspect of recalls that is often overlooked (or ignored) is that individuals who regularly leverage food pantries likely do not have the resources to replace recalled items. This creates additional disparity, as recipients cannot return items for a replacement. In a best-case scenario, individuals have the time, physical ability, and resources to travel to another food pantry and find a replacement product. However, as food banks and pantries are largely reliant on donations, it may take weeks to receive a similar item. 

Curbing the Impact of Recalls 

As a nonprofit dependent on food donations, Feeding America works with manufacturers and vendors to ensure awareness of its relabeling capability. Relabeling may be needed if a product has an omitted or incorrect ingredient on the label or an undeclared allergen (but not a pathogen). This puts additional strain on food bank resources to generate labels and train staff or volunteer labor to strip and relabel items with the missing or correct ingredient. As per the federal Fair Labeling and Packaging Act of 1967, food banks may relabel products without having to include nutritional information, but the label must have the following information: 

  1. Common name of the product
  2. Ingredients in ascending order
  3. Net weight
  4. Name of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor. 

Having the option to relabel a product in a recall or withdrawal situation helps ensure that it goes to those who need it instead of ending up in a landfill.

Recalls are an integral element of the comprehensive food safety system in the U.S. Removing potentially life-threatening products from store shelves and home pantries is essential, and making this process more efficient for the food banks and pantries is vital. The modernization of the current recall system must be inclusive of the entire distribution chain—including the real "last mile." Those who need help the most cannot be omitted from the equation as we move toward a modern, more consumer-friendly approach to recall communication. 

References

  1. Coffman, Vanessa and Mitzi D. Baum. "Modernizing Recalls is a Must for Consumer Safety." Food Safety Magazine. June 7, 2022. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/7780-modernizing-recalls-is-a-must-for-consumer-safety.
  2. Baum, Mitzi D. and Vanessa Coffman. "Food Companies Struggle with a Fragmented Recall System." Food Safety Magazine. August 29, 2022. https://www.food-safety.com/articles/7967-food-companies-struggle-with-a-fragmented-recall-system.
  3. Feeding America. "Charitable Food Assistance Participation in 2021." https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/charitable-food-access.
  4. Feeding America. "The Feeding America Network." https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/food-bank-network. 
KEYWORDS: food banks modernization recalls STOP Foodborne Illness

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Vanessa Coffman is the Director of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, a program of the organization Stop Foodborne Illness, which brings food companies, consumers, and academics together to advance food safety culture. She holds a Ph.D. in environmental epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Mitzi D. Baum is the Chief Executive Officer at Stop Foodborne Illness. She holds a M.Sc. degree in Food Safety and a certificate in Food Law from Michigan State University.

Wayne Melichar, M.Sc., is the Senior Director of Food Safety for Feeding America, where he has worked for nine years. He supports a network of 199 member food banks as a subject matter expert. He began his career as a Licensed Environmental Health Practitioner for DuPage County Health Department and then worked as a Quality Assurance Manager for Buffets Inc. He holds an M.S. degree in Food Safety from Michigan State University and a B.S. degree in Health Science from Western Illinois University. He is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS), a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual, and Certified Professional in Food Safety (CP-FS) from the National Environmental Health Association.

Diane Letson is Vice President of Food Industry Partnerships for Feeding America. She has spent more than 25 years at Feeding America in various supply chain and product sourcing roles, as well as a two-year opportunity serving the Feeding America network as a member engagement director responsible for food bank compliance. Her work has involved securing donations from manufacturers, co-packers, wholesalers, foodservice companies, and retailers for day-to-day network needs and operations, as well as during disaster response. She co-directed a two-year project devoted to local product sourcing, which led to the development of a food resources curriculum for the network. 

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • people holding baby chicks

    Serovar Differences Matter: Utility of Deep Serotyping in Broiler Production and Processing

    This article discusses the significance of Salmonella in...
    Microbiological
    By: Nikki Shariat Ph.D.
  • woman washing hands

    Building a Culture of Hygiene in the Food Processing Plant

    Everyone entering a food processing facility needs to...
    Training
    By: Richard F. Stier, M.S.
  • graphical representation of earth over dirt

    Climate Change and Emerging Risks to Food Safety: Building Climate Resilience

    This article examines the multifaceted threats to food...
    Best Practices
    By: Maria Cristina Tirado Ph.D., D.V.M. and Shamini Albert Raj M.A.
Subscribe For Free!
  • eMagazine Subscription
  • Subscribe to eNewsletter
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Website Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Food Safety Magazine audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Food Safety Magazine or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Two men standing in a produce storage facility having a discussion.
    Sponsored byOrkin Commercial

    Staying Compliant With FSMA

  • Deli Salads
    Sponsored byCorbion

    How Food Safety is Becoming the Ultimate Differentiator in Refrigerated and Prepared Foods

Popular Stories

Image of produce being washed on a conveyor belt in a facility

Science in Action: How Nanobubbles Are Advancing Food Safety Standards

FoodSafetyMattersFinal-900x550-(002).jpg

Ep. 195. Dr. Christopher Daubert: The Value of a Food Science Education

Students returning their lunch trays in a cafeteria

California Bill Would Remove Ultra-Processed Foods from School Lunches

Events

June 26, 2025

How to Design and Conduct Challenge Studies for Safer Products and Longer Shelf Life

Live: June 26, 2025 at 2:00 pm EDT: During this webinar, attendees will learn how to conduct challenge studies for microbial spoilage and pathogen growth, including the common challenges encountered, laboratory selection, and use of predictive models.

May 11, 2026

The Food Safety Summit

Stay informed on the latest food safety trends, innovations, emerging challenges, and expert analysis. Leave the Summit with actionable insights ready to drive measurable improvements in your organization. Do not miss this opportunity to learn from experts about contamination control, food safety culture, regulations, sanitation, supply chain traceability, and so much more.

View All

Products

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

Global Food Safety Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

See More Products
Environmental Monitoring Excellence eBook

Related Articles

  • recall alert

    Modernizing Recalls is a Must for Consumer Safety

    See More
  • recalls fragmented shattered

    Food Companies Struggle with a Fragmented Recall System

    See More
  • Live from the Food Safety Summit: Measure What You Treasure food safety culture webinar by FDA and Stop Foodborne Illness

    Measure What You Treasure—Assessing Food Safety Culture and its Impact

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • 9781138198463.jpg

    Food Safety Management Programs: Applications, Best Practices, and Compliance

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • September 24, 2024

    Avoid the Recalls: How to Maintain Brand Reputation and Drive Company-Wide Compliance

    On Demand: This webinar will cover how to reduce the risk of costly product recalls that can jeopardize brand and customer loyalty.
  • March 4, 2025

    Navigating Food Safety Audits: Expert Tips and Best Practices

    On Demand: This webinar will explore the importance of audits, the types of audits to anticipate, and step-by-step guidance to ensure a seamless experience
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Never miss the latest news and trends driving the food safety industry

eNewsletter | Website | eMagazine

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing