Recall/Crisis Management

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Many food companies facing a possible product recall find themselves unsure of what to do, let alone how to engage with FDA. This article walks through some of the key considerations that companies should have front-of-mind in this situation.

Commissioned by FDA, the Reagan-Udall Foundation released a report outlining actionable strategies to enhance cross-sectoral coordination in response to public health incidents, including food safety threats.

An aim of FDA's Coordinated Outbreak Response, Evaluation, and Emergency Preparedness Office (CORE+EP) is to share the findings of foodborne illness outbreak investigations, highlighting relevant topics such as the importance of global partnerships in farm investigations and the benefits of historical environmental surveillance for future outbreak investigations. 

Since June, FreshRealm has been involved in an ongoing, deadly foodborne illness outbreak, as the producer of prepared pasta meals that were made with Listeria monocytogenes-tainted pasta (supplied by Nate’s Fine Foods Inc.) and distributed nationwide under various brand names. Now, FreshRealm has alerted USDA that it detected L. monocytogenes in spinach used to make meals distributed by HelloFresh.

An ongoing outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to prepared pasta meals has expanded to 15 states, causing 20 illnesses, 19 hospitalizations, and four deaths. The meals were sold under various brand names at Walmart, Kroger, and Trader Joe’s stores.

FDA detected radioactive isotope Cesium-137 (Cs-137) in a shipment of Indonesian cloves, due to heightened surveillance efforts initiated after radioactive shrimp was detected in another Indonesian import. Additionally, the radioactive shrimp recall has been expanded, and now affects Walmart, Kroger, and other retailers nationwide.

A series of U.S. consumer surveys from the International Food Information Council (IFIC) show that consumer confidence in U.S. food safety has hit an all-time low, and explore consumer perceptions of food recalls and FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) rule.

More than 300 patients infected by the outbreak strain of Salmonella Strathcona have been identified in 19 EU/EEA countries, the UK, the U.S., and Canada. Tomatoes from Italy are the vehicle of infection.

A GS1 US consumer survey has revealed that 93 percent of Americans are concerned about how frequently food recalls occur. GS1 US says increased recall frequency means traceability efforts are working.

FDA and CDC have closed their investigation into a Listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat products produced by Fresh and Ready Foods of San Fernando, California, announcing that one of the ten people who fell ill has died.