Senator Proposes Changes to Recall Notification Requirements
03-29-2010
By Brian Giannini
It’s called the Consumer Recall Notification Act – and it has the potential to drastically change the way you have to manage a recall. This bill is just one more of the many reasons why food manufacturers and retailers must pay attention to changes in the rules governing their business on a daily basis. It is critical that food manufacturers heed this warning and revisit their recall plans to make sure they are ready to manage a recall effectively and in compliance with fast changing recall regulations.
Introduced by Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), the proposed legislation would change several aspects of the recall process that many say need repair. Lawmakers, regulators, and consumer activists are increasingly concerned about food safety issues, such as the increasing health-related costs of food-borne illness.
The Gillibrand proposal could end up as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act that would have a major impact on recall execution for food manufacturers and retailers alike. Specifically, Senator Gillibrand’s bill seeks to improve recall notification measures for food recalls in three areas: consumer notification, distribution of information to restaurants and food retailers, and distribution of information to health workers.
Consumer Notification. If passed, the bill will make it mandatory for stores using customer loyalty or membership cards to notify all consumers who have purchased a product that was recently recalled. The penalty for not complying? A fine of $100 for each customer the retailer has failed to notify.
Distribution of Information to Restaurants and Food Retailers. The bill would also require distributors of recalled food products to notify all stores and restaurants of the recall within 24 hours of announcing the recall to the public. As a part of this initiative, the FDA would publish a list of all restaurants and stores that received recalled products. Those businesses would then be required to post clear notices alerting customers to the recall. Again, the bill provides for a penalty for non-compliance. Any facility that fails to notify stores and restaurants would be fined $1,000 penalty for each missed notification.
Distribution of Information to Health Workers. In order to help health workers diagnose food-borne illnesses, the bill would require that the FDA provide advisories to local and state health departments, as well as key health professionals. These advisories would outline symptoms to look for and ways to test for food-borne illnesses.
Senator Gillibrand hopes her bill will be incorporated into the pending Food Safety Modernization Act which the Senate plans to take up next month.
Use this time wisely. It is critical that your company be fully prepared to manage any new recall regulations as soon as they are passed. If new regulations go into effect, your recall plan could quickly be out of date and need a major overhaul. And once your plan is revised, it is critical that your recall management team be trained on new recall procedures so they know exactly what to do when the time comes. Waiting to figuring it out later will not only impact your company financially, but could cause significant brand damage for failing to effectively manage what otherwise would have been a routine recall.
Stericycle ExpertRECALL™ is the industry leader in recall logistics and regulatory compliance for consumer product, pharmaceutical, medical device, juvenile product, and food and beverage recalls. ExpertRECALL’s professionals are experts in recall management who can help you streamline the entire product recall process.
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