7 replies to this topic

[kbyrne]

I don't really know where in the forums to put this, so I opted for here. If it was a wrong choice, my apologies.

My company recently found itself in a dialogue with a customer of ours, regarding some testing for COA - specifically, the customer tests the product for Listeria, but we don't.

What are the ramifications if the customer(s) tests for something that we don't, and their tests come back positive? Obviously, there would be a recall, but I'm more interested in legal aspects, regulatory ramifications, etc.?

Thanks.

Kevin Byrne

[Chief Inspector]

That would depend on where in the world you are, what the top-down regulations are from your governmental laws, regulations, etc., and sadly, how good your lawyers are.

[kbyrne]

That would depend on where in the world you are, what the top-down regulations are from your governmental laws, regulations, etc., and sadly, how good your lawyers are.

New York State - so we'd have to deal with FDA, as well as NYS Department of Ag & Market.

[Charles.C]

And the product is ? Baby Food ??

Rgds / Charles.C

[kbyrne]

And the product is ? Baby Food ??

Rgds / Charles.C

Nut pastes and nut butters, Charles.

[Chief Inspector]

Assuming you're adhering to federal, state and local regulations in the production, packaging, testing and warehousing (also assuming you're not the shipping agent) at your facilities, then your liability in the instance of a positive test should be minimal. The monitary cost is something completely different factoring in the associated expenditure for the recall and negative publicity. You didn't budget for added legal council and investigation teams. IF (note: IF) you tested positive, and the subsequent investigation traced it back to your facility/production, you may be liable for the entire cost of the investigation should they find that you weren't adhering to law, regulations, policy, procedure, etc.

Regulatory ramifications are that you may be the 'one' to spark further regulations on the testing of your type of facility. Unless you live in a vacuum, you know that the three regular food safety issues here in the US are Salmonella, e-Coli and Listeria. Subsequently, testing and detection regulations are changing yearly and you should be vigilant in not only what the current regulations are, but how the next set of regulations may affect your business, so as to anticipate any capitol expenditures you may have to assume to bring your facilities and production up to code. The grace periods are very short in all 50 states. If you care to divulge what your products are, I can guide you to specific regulations and policies, because at this point the list of links would look like a google search of "NYC" results. Edit: strike this...Charles responded while I was typing. Give me a few to research and I'll post some links.

The "Etc." is that regardless of the findings, should the media get ahold of a story that your company was involved in an investigation, the damage to reputation may exceed the costs of enacting a 'exceed regulations' policy. Marketing that fact takes far less to budget for than JUST the non-budget marketing campaign to regain the trust of your customers and consumers.

Edited by Chief Inspector, 17 November 2010 - 04:04 PM.

[Charles.C]

Not in USA so I can’t speculate the legal aspects.

I deduce from yr post that you have reason to believe the result. My first reaction would be to make absolutely certain of that.!

I also presume the “Listeria” is L.monocytogenes though it may make no difference in USA.?

Rgds / Charles.C

[Chief Inspector]

Check with the USDA, FDA, state and local regulations pertaining to your facility, as well as the CFR (code of federal regulations) on "Thermally processed low-acid foods packaged in hermetically sealed containers". How are you licensed? A full production plant, a commercial kitchen, a repackager? That will come into play as well. If you're producing both ground and tree-based 'nut' products, or your raw materials and ingredients are listed in regulations, you may be required to test and are currently in non-compliance.


Two links will set you on a decent path outside of the regulations you'll find hitting any of the aforementioned agencies.

Food Liability Law, Listeria Recall Toolkit -(blog) although specifically written about a dairy product producer, the liabilities cross-over.

Cornell University Food Entrepreneur Resource Center - The initial links at the top of their page ( Agencies, Regulations, etc.) are probably the most useful to get more information pertaining to direct regulations.

One other 'cost' I forgot to mention...the ambulance chasers always grin at product recalls, as class-action suits are lucrative for them and devastating to small to mid-sized producers.