NAME PROSPER CHIMINYA

REG NUMBER C18133053M

PROGRAM BSFST

LEVEL 4.1

COURSE DAIRY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Assignment 2
1. Describing the processes that must be conducted before and after product recall and
suggesting actions that can be employed to solve problem on quality of the milk product.

According to Downey (2020) product recall is a request to return or a process of retrieving a

product after discovery of safety issues or product defects that may endanger the consumer or put
the manufacturer/seller at risk of legal action, while compensating the consumers that had bought
the product, the recalls are only made by manufacturers/producers of the products. Obong’o
Oballa (n.d.) asserts that the product recall process is an effort to limit the damages caused by the
defective product to the users/consumers and to the corporate image of the manufacturers from
adverse and unwanted publicity and the legal liability for corporate negligence, which can cause
significant legal costs.

Downey (2020) says product recall is in two primary categories which are as follows

Trade level recall: this type of product recall is conducted when the food has not been sold
directly to consumers, it usually means that the product will be recovered from distribution
centers and wholesalers.

Consumer level recall: this type of product recall is a much larger scale of recall than trade level,
it involves recovering a food product from all points in the food chain, including retrieving it
from consumers after they have purchased it.

Collier (2019) asserts that they are many reasons why food maybe recalled, however they are
two types of food recall which can either be food allergy recall or food safety recall. Food allergy
recalls occur as a result of allergy concerns, for example, if the allergy information wasn’t very
clear on out milk product packaging or it was labelled incorrectly, or it was completely missing
on the label. Food safety recalls occur when there is a safety concern about our new milk product
in this case, for example, if the milk product contains a high concentration of a substance not
safe for consumption (such cleaning chemicals), if a foreign substance is in the product (like bits
of rubber, plastic or metal) or if the food is found to contain harmful bacteria (such as
salmonella). Other reasons for food safety recall include contamination and environmental
pollution incidents, such as chemical spills that have affected food.

Siyoi et al. (2010) states that before conducting a product recall one should have at least the
following information; name, strength, pack size, batch number and any means of identification
of the recalled product, we should also have the total quantity of the product being recalled and
the date the product was first distributed. The total quantity of the product being recalled that had
been distributed up to the time of the recall should be indicated, area of distribution of the
product and if exported, the country to where it was exported should also be indicated. Before
product recall, one should be able to provide a list of customers to whom the product was issued,
the reason for initiating the recall, the nature of defect and suggested actions to be taken and its
urgency.

Food Recall Procedure

Step One: Decide if the product needs to be recalled

According to Collier (2019) all food producers and retailers have a responsibility to ensure that
the food they provide to the consumers is safe to eat. food should not be placed on the market if
it is unsafe for consumption. If we as food manufacturer consider or has reason to believe that a
food which we have produced, processed, or distributed (new milk product in this case) is not in
compliance with the food safety requirements, this immediately initiates procedures to recall the
food in question from the market, in this case the new milk product. The competent authorities
must therefore be informed of the of the arising issues. If our product has reached the consumer,
we would instruct an operator to effectively and accurately inform the consumers of the reason
for its withdrawal, and if necessary.

Siyoi et al. (2010) claims that before initiating a recall, we must gather, correlate and evaluate all
known information on the nature and extent of the reputed health hazard. An intensive and
extensive evaluation of the health hazard presented by the product being recalled or considered
for recall must be conducted by the quality control board, Food Control Authority (FCA) and
Standard Authority of Zimbabwe (SAZ), taking into account and assessing factors such as
whether any disease or outbreaks have already occurred from the use of the new mil product, if
any outbreaks have occurred, we must then determine the degree of seriousness of the health
hazard to which the population at greatest risk would be exposed. Other factors that should be
looked into before product recall like the likelihood of occurrence of that hazard presented by the
product, the resulting consequences (immediate or long-term) of occurrence of the hazard.

Step Two: Create a food recall team

After we have identified the product that needs to be recalled we should assemble a team of
people who can help recall the product. When choosing the team, we ensure that we have plenty
of people to help throughout the process and make it run as smoothly as possible.

Step Three: Gather information on the food safety incident and notify the relative
authorities

Once the team is in place, we should then begin to gather all the necessary information about the
product to be recalled like the details of the food, what the hazard is, how the hazard was allowed
to happen and the extent of the problem, for instance is the food available to consumers at the
point when the safety concern/ hazards were recognized. The information can be gathered from
either internal and external source like production records, quality control records (sample
analysis), sales records, employees, customer complaints and audits. After gathering all the
information about the food we want to recall, we notify the relevant authorities like the Food
Control Authority (FCA) and Standard Authority of Zimbabwe (SAZ) using established
reporting procedures, we also make sure to inform the suppliers and business customers that we
may have provided the product to, like supermarkets. After informing the supermarkets and all
other retailers (business customers) they must then stop selling the product and remove it from
the shelves, stop preparing food using it, and prevent it from getting to consumers in any way
possible.

Step Four: Set Apart Affected Products 

For example, if product failure was due to having a packaging fault due to a piece of machinery,
then this means we may still have a number of products in our control that are affected by the
identified issue and so every product that has since gone through that machinery may have the
same hazard. We must then check the remaining products in our warehouse and those still on our
manufacturing premises and identify any further products that can cause a food safety concern
and if any defective products are found, we must then remove these products from the production
line and ensure that we keep them away/separate from food that is safe for consumption.

Step Five: Notify Consumers

All customers who have been or are likely to have been affected by the harmful or hazardous
milk product must be notified of it. Collier (2019) claims that you should use an effective
communication method to inform them of the actions they need to take and ensure the
information provided to them is accurate, so we then use the different media platforms like
WhatsApp, Facebook, radio announcements and tv aids to spread the news to the consumers
informing them of the accurate information surrounding the product recall and what they should
do if they had consumed the new milk product. The consumers can also be notified through
emails, if they signed up for a store’s loyalty card with their email address and they scan this
when they pay for an affected item, the store can track that they bought the item and let them
know, notices can also be displayed on the SAZ and FCA website so as to notify the consumers.
In cases that have a particularly high risk, where lots of people are expected to have been
affected or in some cases where someone has died as a result of eating a hazardous product, the
consumers may be notified through the news.

When we have notified the consumers about the food recall, we must also explain what they
should do with the affected product that maybe in their possession and this is usually taking it
back to the shop they bought it from where they must be compensated. At times a public warning
may be necessary if the product poses a serious health hazard, however this should be reserved
for urgent situations where other means of preventing the use and consumption of our recalled
product appear inadequate. The type of public warning that we are going to use should be
specified in the recall strategy for the new milk product for instance general public warning in
the general media as appropriate, a public warning through specialized news media such as
professionals.

When notifying the consumers, business consumers, we must ensure that the recall
communication message is brief and to the point, it should name the product, strength, pack size,
and any other pertinent descriptive information of the product. It must also indicate nature of the
defect/hazard resulting in the recall of the product, it should also show the urgency of the action
and the reason for the action. The message should provide specific instructions on what should
be done with the recalled new milk product. In some cases, follow-up communication are
necessary and should be sent to those who fail to respond to the initial recall communication and
it should be done within a reasonable time depending on the urgency of the recall.

Step Six: Monitor the progress

Throughout the food recall process, its progress should continually be monitored, this means that
we should maintain communication between our organization and the Standard Authority of
Zimbabwe (SAZ), Food Control Authority (FCA) and business customers.

Step Seven: Control recalled product

When the recalled products start making their way back into the factory, we then need to decide
what to do with them and how best we can dispose them. We must ensure to keep them separate
from other products for reasons, such as if the recalled product contains an allergen, it may
contaminate other products and so they must be kept in a controlled environment until we decide
what to do with them.

Post Recall Procedures

As dairy expect l should provide the SAZ, FCA and the Quality Control and Assurance
department of the company with a detailed report of the recalled product within a specified time
(usually a space of two weeks). The report to contain the following information; name of the
product, strength of the product, pack size of the product, batch number, nature of the
defect/hazard, action that was taken, urgency of the action taken, reason for the action, indication
of the health risk and reported clinical problems (if any occurred). Copies of all the recall
correspondence and steps taken to prevent re-occurrence of the problem will also be indicated in
the report.

After a recall as an organization, we should maintain an open dialogue, as open and honest post-
recall communications help to foster a sense of goodwill in consumers, this can influence brand
loyalty and help stock prices recover, often to pre-recall levels. As the dairy expect, after the dust
has settled, I should reinforce and maintain the organization’s commitment to safety and quality
of the product that we produce.

We should also take time to assess how the recall impacted internal processes, including
employee morale (internal impact assessment), we should also revisit processes that may have
contributed to the issues that led to the recalling of our new milk product. Based on the
evaluation we should implement additional preventive measures at the manufacturing or retail
stages like implementing additional quality checks or hazard analyses before selling our
products. As a dairy expect l should continue to monitor the news, social media and customer
comment forums to understand any lingering effects of the recall.
References

Collier. E. 2019, August 16. Food Product Recall Procedure. High Sped Training.
https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/product-recall-template/

Downey. L. 2020, September 21. Product Recall. Investopedia.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/product_recall.asp

Obong’o Oballa. K. (n.d.). Product Recall. PTA Reinsurance Company. https://www.zep-

re.com/index.php/opportunities/publications?id=107

Siyoi. F. Ochieng. W.O. Pandit. J. Wasike. J, and Otieno. D. 2010. Guidelines for Product Recall
and Product Withdrawal. Pharmacy and Poison Board. Republic of Kenya.
http://digicollection.org/hss/documents/s17110e/s17110e.pdf