Meat and Poultry Recalls exceed 1 per week

The USDA FSIS posted 58 recalls last year.  The first quarter had 12 recalls. The 2nd quarter followed with 20 recalls. The 3rd quarter recalls dropped to 13 and the 4th quarter closed with another 13 recalls.  

Bacteria contamination topped the list of reasons. Twenty-four (41%) recalls occurred due to discovery of salmonella, listeria or E. coli.  Next allergens and mislabelling caused 18 recalls. Nine recalls were initiated due to companies not having an inspector on site during processing or using ingredients that were not approved for import or use. Foreign materials caused 4 recalls and the last group underprocessing caused recalls three times. 

Surely many of these recalls could have been avoided. We also do not know how many product withdrawals were made without USDA involvement or how much product was held at the plants and destroyed prior to making it into the distribution stream.  We can assume that this occurred at much higher levels than the recalls.  It is fortunate that things are caught before making it to market.

On the other hand, how many of these recalls should never have occurred. They would not have occurred if Pre-requisite plans and HACCP plans were enforced and were more than just check marks in a box.  Ensuring that allergens are noticed on labels, in ingredient formulas and on equipment shared by allergens should be caught every time, if quality assurance and production are working hand in hand.

Not notifying your inspector that you are operating nor verifying that imports are on the approved list is unacceptable.  If bacterial recalls are occuring due to underprocessing or failure to perform a bacterial kill step or recontamination from raw materials, then these are unacceptable as well.

Industry must continue to regulate itself and do the right thing. It is not acceptable to just have a program in writing. Programs must be put into practice and be reliable each and every day. Confidence in our food industry can only be improved by persistance in every level of the food chain.

Be safe out there!
Rudy
rudy@powerinlearning.com