Thought Leadership

There are dozens of food recalls issued every quarter in the U.S. alone. But despite the frequency of food recalls, there are a number of aspects many people – even industry leaders – may not realize. When consumers become ill, they typically think of the last food they consumed. But actually, it can take a couple of days for illness to begin. It can take even longer for medical personnel to determine the cause and report it to the proper authorities – sometimes weeks.

Foreign materials caused just over 10 percent of FDA food recalls in 2016, and only about two percent of recalled units. While the amount is small compared to other common causes, the impact may be disproportionately large. From a consumer perspective, a food safety issue such as an undeclared allergen is a major concern – if you have the allergy in question. While some are affected greatly, others are unaffected. That’s not the case with foreign matter contamination.

At a recent Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) event, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) representative spoke about the agency’s push for pathogen testing in food products. A combination of more sophisticated testing and more aggressive regulatory enforcement has helped drive up contamination recall activity in the food sector in recent quarters.

The rise in contamination recalls, driven by advancements in testing and increased regulatory scrutiny, has received a lot of attention in recent months. It’s easy to forget the prevalence of other causes of food recalls, including undeclared allergens. In fact, the number of recalls due to undeclared allergens increased each quarter in 2016, rising from 40 in Q1 to 105 in Q4.  While these recalls make up a smaller proportion of recall activity compared to contamination, their share was fairly consistent throughout 2016.

These are challenging times for the food industry. As reported in the most recent Recall Index, Q3 set another record for recall activity, due in large part to advancements in contamination testing. At the same time, regulators are becoming increasingly vigilant and provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) are being implemented. It has been just over a year since one aspect of FSMA, the produce safety rule, was finalized.