Why Are There More Food Recalls-Bill Stankiewicz Blog

Dear Supply Chain Professionals:

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I wanted to share this article that I read on this subject on the reason why there are more food recalls. The info here was in Parade.com/intel, I read it on June 28, 2009 in Parade magazine.

In April, the federal government advised citizens not to eat raw alfalfa sprouts, while earlier in the year we were warned against pistachios and peanut butter. If it seems like these public-health alerts are being issued more frequently, they are. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there were 214 food recalls in 2006, 247 in 2007, and 310 in 2008.

But food manufacturers say that’s a good thing. “It may look like the food supply is getting less safe, but it actually means that we’re getting better at detecting the outbreaks,” says Dr. Robert Brackett, chief science and regulatory-affairs officer for the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seem to support Brackett’s conclusion: Despite the increase in food recalls in the last several years, the number of food-borne illnesses has plateaued.

Dr. David Acheson, the FDA’s associate commissioner for food safety, says the agency is becoming more aggressive about identifying health hazards before any illness is reported. “If we have a concern about a product, we’re trying to get out in front of it,” Acheson says. In the pistachio recall, for instance, the nuts were removed from shelves before anyone got sick.

But some lawmakers worry that the FDA still isn’t doing enough, and they’re working on a bill to toughen regulations. The legislation would require food manufacturers to closely track the distribution of their products, while the FDA would have to make more frequent visits to food manufacturing plants.

The globalization of the food supply poses further challenges. With more stops from farm to fork, there is a greater chance of contamination. The FDA recently opened offices in India and China to keep an eye on food producers there. The good news is that, thanks to advances in surveillance technology, the CDC is able to track the genetic fingerprint of food-borne illnesses nationwide, allowing the FDA to warn Americans about potential health risks more quickly.

Even with increased oversight, the FDA warns, some food recalls are inevitable. “It’s not possible to be inspecting and testing every food item,” Acheson says. “You simply cannot do it.”

— Brooke Lea Foster

For any questions on this post feel free to contact Bill Stankiewicz at 678-364-3475 or email me at : williams@shipperswarehouse.com


Best Regards,

Bill Stankiewicz
Vice President and General Manager
Shippers Warehouse of Georgia
Office: 678-364-3475
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