Recalls - what and when

A Product Recall is like a wicketkeeper in cricket - there to stop the ball (product) getting past the batsman (food safety controls in a business) and out to the public. Recalls are required for food safety issues, and may also be implemented for quality problems.

There are many food recalls in Australia each year, and currently most of them are as a result of incorrect allergen labelling. For these, the product is fine but the labelling doesn’t declare all the allergens in that product, and therefore does not meet the labelling requirements of Chapter One of the Food Standards Code.

All food businesses that manufacture, import, distribute or wholesale product are required by the Food Standards Code to have a Product Recall program. This program must meet the requirements of the Product Recall Protocol, which can be found at www.foodstandards.gov.au

There are three types of Recalls as detailed in the Protocol;

• CONSUMER - the product needs to be retrieved from supermarkets or locations where it can be purchased by the public. Advertising and Recall Notices may be required.
   
• TRADE - the product has not yet reached consumer level and needs to be retrieved from warehouses and similar level
   
• MOCK - if a business has a Recall Program, they must be doing regular mock recalls on paper to test the effectiveness of the program. Product is not actually retrieved but a set percentage of the stock must be able to be found within a specific period of time - eg; 95% of the stock produced must be located within three hours of the Mock Recall start time.

A recall email is sent by the Recall Co-ordinator, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), within a day, to all who sign up for this free service at the Food Standards website - www.foodstandards.gov.au