USDA-FSIS Recalls
The Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) is the agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture that is responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. If your product is not safe, you must remove it from commerce by announcing a recall and managing the recall process.
FSIS recalls are typically considered voluntary and initiated by the manufacturer or distributor of the meat or poultry. But if your company refuses to recall its products, FSIS does have the legal authority to seize any products in commerce.
In many FSIS recalls, the manufacturer notifies the agency of unsafe or improperly labeled meat or poultry products. FSIS can also learn about possible food safety issues from test results obtained from its own product sampling program, field and program inspectors, and epidemiological data submitted to public health departments or other federal agencies.
Once alerted to a possible violation of FSIS standards, the FSIS convenes a recall committee comprised of FSIS scientists, technical experts, field inspection managers, enforcement personnel and communications specialists to evaluate all available information and make recommendations to the company about the need for a recall.
If the recall committee recommends a recall, it is classified based on the relative health risk. The recall classes are as follows:
- Class I - A health hazard situation in which there is a reasonable probability that eating the food will cause illness or death.
- Class II - A potential health hazard situation in which there is a remote probability of adverse health consequences from eating the food.
- Class III – A situation in which eating the food will not cause adverse health consequences.
The committee works closely with the manufacturer to identify production and distribution information required to manage the recall and fulfill all recall requirements.
It is always in the best interests of the manufacturing company and the public to complete the recall quickly. The manufacturer is responsible for all of the costs involved in the recall process, making it critical to have in place a plan to manage a recall and cover recall expenses, expedite the process without creating negative public opinion, and prevent down time. When a recall hits, it is too late to begin developing a recall plan. Developing a recall blueprint in advance and working with a recall outsource agency is vital to mitigating the potential damage.
Although it is the manufacturer or distributor’s decision whether to recall a product, the FSIS coordinates with the company to ensure that it has properly identified and removed the product from commerce by verifying the level of recall effectiveness and recall compliance. ExpertRECALL prepares companies for this process and helps them navigate through the process of executing a complete and efficient recall that meets all FSIS recall standards.
