Welcome,
 In recent issues we have been talking about incentive plans and Gain-Sharing but this week we are going to talk about an issue that is of much more concern in today’s world. In the past 2 weeks the major issue in the food world has been the issue of E-coli found in bagged spinach. With this topic such a big issue today I decided refresh my research on the topic of food safety. I recently attended a web seminar put on by Food Engineering Magazine named “Traceability-> From Farm Gate To Dinner Plate. In this weeks issue I would like to share what I learned in this seminar. I would like to thank the presenters of the seminar for their information contributed to this newsletter.
Sincerely,

Paul Hernandez-Cuebas
Editor

 
 
  
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September 26, 2006
Volume 2 Issue 80

Being Prepared Will Save You Money

            This newsletter was started to focus on saving and cutting cost for food distributors and processors. You may ask yourself then why are we talking food safety? About a year ago we published 6 articles (Issue 29, Issue 30, Issue 31, Issue 32, Issue 33, and Issue 34)  that covered in-depth the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 and about Recalls. As an information gatherer  to the Food Distribution/Processing world it is my obligation to keep my readers informed about  food related issues and plus a unknowing owner that continues to work in the wrong way will be spending a lot more money that a owner that knows of change immediately. In this issue I am going to shortly summarize what I found out in the web seminar on Preventing, Preparing for, and Reacting to a food recalls.

Preventing:

   When people say preventing a food product recall they almost immediately think a food processor. Although many of the times the processor is at fault that is not always the case.  There are many cases that distributors and retailers have to recall products because of mishandling. All of the presenters of the seminar were in agreement that the best way to prevent a recall is to perform good management practices. As owners and mangers you need to always be aware of the details. If you can manage and control the small details of your business, than you are ahead of the game in preventing a product recall.

Preparing For:

   A company should always be prepared for a product recall and the best way to accomplish this is have information about all of your products. According to Olin Thompson, who was a guest writer for us and wrote about technology investment in the food industry in Issue 13, this data collection shouldn’t have to cost you any extra money if your technology is up to date. All of the data that you need to collect should be in you receipts, invoices, and inventory reporting. In Issues 78 and Issue 79, we explained how a food related software package can help in creating a Gain-Sharing plan. That same report that you used to track employee efficiency can also be used to help track your inventory. If a recall did occur and you ran that report frequently you would know exactly how much of a product you have in inventory and exactly how much didn’t go out the door.

   A major attribute in preparing for a recall is knowing your backward and forward tracking. That means that you know exactly where your product comes from and where it ends up. Dan Heiderscheit, IT Director of Kemin AgriFoods, said that a good way to help track products backward and forward is good lot control. He suggested that each vender have their own specific lot number, that why when a recall happens you find the products effected more quickly. All of these attributes to preparing for a recall go directly back to what Olin said in that if you already do a great job in tracking your products then these steps should be very easy to. It is all about accurate tracking and reporting. Automated scanning systems can provide lot control tracking at the receiving and shipping points of your products. These product recall reports will give you the data you need at your finger tips to make quick and accurate decisions.  

   Another step that could and should be taken to prepare for a recall are mock recalls. Mock recalls are recalls that ownership and management make up to see how their staff will react. Mock recalls can be done as many times a year as you like but the main point is that they need to be random. Make sure you pick different times of the day, different products, and different types of recalls. Why does the government demand that everyone does fire drills? Practice makes perfect.  The more times your staff does a fake recall the better they will react in a real situation.  

Reacting:

   Again all of the presenters were in agreement that the best way to react to recall is to take a proactive approach to it. As soon as a recall has been confirmed your company should spring right into action following the proper procedures. Besides the fact that the FDA only gives you 4 hours to completely pull the products the bigger problem if you are behind is your brand or company reputation. The presenters gave a great example of this in reference to the recent spinach recall. The companies that can pull the product the quickest won’t give the media time to get their name to the public. Although the spinach recall is not a brand it’s a product, if the brand shows up in the media with affiliation with spinach customers will most likely hesitate before buying that brand in the future.

 The faster you react to the recall the less risk you run in completely ruining your reputation and ruining your reputation may cost you your shirt!!

Being Prepared For The Worst Case Costs Much Less Than Reacting To The Worst

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