Global communication for global recalls

There have been sixteen further FDA recalls and again a further press release from the CFIA overnight for the peanut butter recall. This brings the total numbers of recalled product to nearly 1000! I wrote a couple of days ago on the use of new types of communication media in the recall and I was also interested to read an article in Ausfoodnews on communication with consumers in the event of a product recall using retail loyalty cards. They report that:

"The nonprofit consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is urging retailers that collect this kind of information to use it to notify consumers when they purchased items subject to a food safety recall".

Further that Costco, Wegmans Food Markets and Price Chopper have all used their databases to notify consumers who have purchased recalled peanut butter items. "In fact, Costco made over 1.5 million automated phone calls and mailed even more letters to customers in the current recall alone".

I feel one of the positives that will come out of this awful incident, and there have to be positives, is that we will identify better ways to inform the consumer about product recalls instead of the notice on the foodstore door. If we have global food supply chains then we have to have global methods of communication in the event of a problem. By global, I mean supply chains in the thousands and millions of consumers rather than the tens and hundreds where word of mouth is sufficient.

In an Associated Press article yesterday it was reported that there were issues with "loopholes" in the US food safety system. The Senate Agriculture Committee have been reviewing the peanut butter recall.

Food Inspections whether in-house or by federal agencies are quality control. Quality control does not work in delivering safe food! Food safety assurance systems are the only way to control food safety, we have learned that lesson and continue to learn that lesson in the UK. There have been calls in the US to increase the amount of irradiation used in treating foods. As a method of quality control this has merit but as I wrote back in August which is better prevention or cure?

I repeat, and this is statement is not meant to reflect on the current recall but food safety generally, Would I want to eat food that was safe but had been irradiated because there was:

• No food safety risk assessment;
• No irrigation water standards;
• No personal hygiene programme;
• No pest control programme (rats, mice etc);
• No premises and equipment hygiene standards;
• No intake inspection and supplier approval process;
• No packaging control procedures;
• No training procedures?

I think I have pressed the point enough.