Legal requirement for product recall.

An overview of UK (EU) law is found on the Food Standards Agency website here: General food law

Withdrawal, recall and notification
Article 19 requires food business operators to withdraw food which is not in compliance with food safety requirements, if it has left their control and to recall the food if has reached the consumer. Withdrawal is when a food is removed from the market up to and including when it is sold to the consumer, recall is when customers are asked to return or destroy the product.

Food businesses must also notify the competent authorities (their local authority and the Food Standards Agency). Retailers and distributors must help with the withdrawal of unsafe food and pass on information necessary to trace it.

Where food business operators have placed a food on the market that is injurious to health, they must immediately notify the competent authorities. There are also similar provisions for animal feed.

Also you might want to have a look at this free guidance document: Risk Management Guidelines (PDF)

From what I know it is not a requirement to publish press releases in the media although a risk assessment may conclude this is a good idea. I'm not an expert so let me know if I'm providing incorrect information.

Hi Simon,

Thanks for response and your efforts to search the answer.

Unfortunately, the situation is still unclear.. I want to know that in case of finding a product unsafe for consumers, whether it is a legal requirement or not to publish press release in local media.

Regards:
M.Zeeshan.

Zeeshan, still not answering your question regarding legality....however, a proative, efficent and effective recall can add value to the organisation. See this interesting article:

PRODUCT RECALL COMMUNICATIONS: THE EFFECTS OF SOURCE, MEDIA, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INFORMATION

Zeeshan, still not answering your question regarding legality....however, a proative, efficent and effective recall can add value to the organisation. See this interesting article:

PRODUCT RECALL COMMUNICATIONS: THE EFFECTS OF SOURCE, MEDIA, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INFORMATION

Thanks Simon,

Thanks for sharing an informative link.

Regards:
M.Zeeshan.

Dear Zeeshan,

It’s an interesting question but, as per Simon’s post, not so easy to answer.
IMO the quickest first search route is Google.
There are also some foodlaw websites who presumably work for profit but release some of their database openly and show a search engine. I hv referred to one or two in other threads (sorry, don’t remember which). Similarly the official websites of the country’s official Food Safety Agency normally have a search engine, the UK / USA in yr list are excellent, no experience of the other countries mentioned.

Here are few results via google –

Model recall plan to detail the steps (eg see “Press” et al) -

Model Recall plan (haccp manual).pdf   130.45KB   81 downloads

UK links -

http://www.food.gov....lation/foodlaw/

http://www.food.gov....e/principlesdoc

These give more specific documents which partially answer yr query,eg (see Notification) –

food withdrawals -recalls - fsa1782002guidance.pdf   84.42KB   66 downloads

Every country inevitably has variations due local law, eg the USA has National / State level aspects however the intrinsic logic chain may be similar, eg Press release to be issued where judged “necessary” by the official body responsible. This route may obviously be pre-empted by other circumstances, eg reporters .

Rgds / Charles.C

Hi Charles!

Thanks for reply.
You've furnished a "tons" of material to read.. I'll refer to it eventually to dig out solution to my query, but I am strongly feeling (after getting replies from you and Simon) that the exact answer to my query will not be available.

Thanks again for searching and furnishing the relevant information.

Regards:
M.Zeeshan.

The US can simply be described as a "Governmental Agency Quagmire" with regards to recalls. Technically, all recalls from US-based companies are voluntary. Federal agencies can 'recommend' recalls, but the actual event and press releases are issued by the offending companies. It gets a lot more complex when the companies are guided by more government entities in their operations. A state that self-regulates may be able to issue recalls, but it doesn't generally roll up to a federal recall recommendation unless those products have a likelihood of crossing state lines, either with raw materials coming in, or finished goods going out. Typically in those circumstances, the federal agencies have influence and control due to the inter-state nature.

As with prior posts, your best friend in starting your search for USA recall information is google. I did a quick lookup using "product recall fda, usda, cdc" and received roughly 65K hits. I use the site and the widget on my site found at http://www.recalls.gov/food.html to keep up with most recall alerts.
The agencies I reference also issue quite a bit of traffic via Twitter.
FDA - Food and Drug Administration
USDA - US Department of Agriculture
CDC - Centers for Disease Control

Dear Chief Inspector!

Thanks for reply.

Regards:
M.Zeeshan

My post/comments are now in flux. Yesterday, President Obama signed into law the "Food Safety Modernization Act", which will revamp almost 80% of food production and importation here in the US. It will be awhile before we see any significant changes, however. The new law is unfunded. On the positive, this gives the FDA some time to draft up the strategy and tactics, and hopefully give everyone affected enough time to gear up.

My post/comments are now in flux. Yesterday, President Obama signed into law the "Food Safety Modernization Act", which will revamp almost 80% of food production and importation here in the US. It will be awhile before we see any significant changes, however. The new law is unfunded. On the positive, this gives the FDA some time to draft up the strategy and tactics, and hopefully give everyone affected enough time to gear up.

Is it possible to provide a summary of what will change, either what is fact or what you think?

As far as the UK goes, the requirement is to notify the relevant authority (the FSA in the UK), then I think it would be up to the authority on whether the issue is made public. Generally some manufacturers will then decide to go public independently of the FSA (presumably to control the story as much as they can?) If you have a look at the FSA alerts, you find that some manufacturers don't issue their own press releases even if the issue is a food safety one whereas others do even if the issue is food quality, the number of allergen alerts which are only published on the FSA website is a case in point.

It's probably worth contacting the FSA and asking them directly.