When there’s a recall, consumers think of the name on the package. Often that brand is the single company believed to be responsible, and that company is the one whose reputation is diminished. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than the food industry, where one ingredient from a supplier that consumers have never heard of can spark recalls across big brands and private labels.
Continue ReadingACConventional wisdom suggests that automation and robotics should make products safer by removing the potential for human error adding more precision to production. But some industries are finding that automation is a double-edged sword. The food industry, in particular, has experienced a string of product recalls whose origins can be traced back to automated systems. Take factory farming, for example. Food Quality & Safety Magazine
Continue ReadingMost people have heard of blockchain technology as it relates to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. In fact, blockchain was initially developed specifically to record and track bitcoin transactions. As the technology becomes more widely adopted, however, developers and businesses are finding more and more applications for the secure tracking it enables.
Continue ReadingAdvances in technology tend to be mixed blessings for product recalls. They often introduce new product safety vulnerabilities while, at the same time, may offer new capabilities that improve recall efficacy. The impact of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, big data, and others on product recalls are slowly unfolding, but emerging patterns give us some sense about how these technologies might affect product safety and recall management in the future.
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