Mars Food recall highlights contingency planning

By Mike Stones

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Product recall Food safety

Make sure your product recall strategy is up-to-date by attending the Product Recall Conference 2011. This one-day conference, organised by Food Manufacture and the Institute of Science & Techology, will arm firms with all they need to know prevent damage in terms of reputation and cost. See article for more details, telephone 01293 610433 or email rachael.cannon@wrbm.com
Make sure your product recall strategy is up-to-date by attending the Product Recall Conference 2011. This one-day conference, organised by Food Manufacture and the Institute of Science & Techology, will arm firms with all they need to know prevent damage in terms of reputation and cost. See article for more details, telephone 01293 610433 or email rachael.cannon@wrbm.com
Mars Food’s recall of some of its Dolmio PastaVita products underlines the need for effective contingency planning, according to legal specialists.

The firm is recalling some date codes of its Dolmio PastaVita range because they may have been insufficiently heated during manufacture.

A Mars spokesman told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “Routine monitoring conducted regularly throughout production has indicated that the pasta may not have undergone optimal processing during manufacture, so we have initiated this product recall in full co-operation with relevant food safety authorities.”

While avoiding comment on this latest recall, Richard Matthews, head of product liability at legal specialist Eversheds, told FoodManufacture.co.uk that, in general, too few firms had effective recall plans.

Serious incidents

“I am surprised at the number of medium and large food companies which do have not established recall plans,”​ he said. “In my experience, the companies which respond best to serious incidents are the ones which have such plans and test them at least annually.

“Responding quickly and effectively to an incident can demonstrate a food business’s commitment to quality and safety as well as minimising the risk of adverse publicity.”

But he made it clear his comments did not apply to Mars Food's recall.

Matthews will be joining Andrew Rhodes, Food Standards Agency (FSA) director of operations, and a range of other high profile speakers at Food Manufacture’s ​Product Recall Conference 2011. For more information about this event, designed to arm food manufacturers with the latest information on food safety and product recalls, click here.

Legal specialist Clare Thomas, head of food and drink at law firm Addleshaw Goddard, said: “Product recall is an issue most companies will have to deal with at some time. Forward planning and preparation are essential to ensure the procedures are in place to deal with it correctly.”

Action plan

Firms should have a corrective action plan setting out their actions, she said. This should be constantly updated to take account of new technologies and new markets.

“In the situation where a food product does not comply with the food safety requirements as set out in European Commission Regulations, companies are legally required to act immediately to initiate withdrawal procedures and to effectively and accurately inform the customer of the reason for withdrawal,”​ she said.

Food Manufacture’s​ Product Recall Conference 2011 will take place on Wednesday, November 23 at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham. To book your place at this event click here, telephone 01293 610433 or email Rachel.cannon@wrbm.com.

The conference is being organised by Food Manufacture​ in association with the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

Speakers include:

Andrew Rhodes, FSA director of operations: Working with industry to manage food safety

Andy Cuerel, senior consultant Razor/College Hill: Managing a crisis

Richard Matthews, Eversheds: Legal responsibilities/recent case studies

Matthew Yeomans, Social Media Influence: Citizen journalists and foodbourne illnesses

Meanwhile, Dolmio PastaVita products being recalled are:

  • Dolmio PastaVita Bolognese, 300g
    Best before dates: September 24 2012, 25 September 2012
  • Dolmio PastaVita Tomato and Basil, 300g
    Best before date: September 25 2012
  • Dolmio PastaVita Sweet Pepper, 300g
    Best before date: September 25 2012
  • Dolmio PastaVita Roasted Garlic and Tomato, 300g
    Best before date: September 25 2012

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1 comment

Food hygiene within a processing plant in norfolk

Posted by Name supplied,

Whilst working within a frozen food processing plant in Norfolk I have observed many cases of poor hygiene practices such as:
Clearing vegetables off the floor whilst wearing gloves then going straight back to inspection line and handling food about to be packaged without replacing gloves let alone washing them;
Dropping stainless steel food tools on the floor and not cleaning them after – just continuing to use them as normal;
Not wearing gloves when handling food on inspection lines; and
Coughing and sneezing over food on inspection lines.

Having worked within the food industry in the past, these practices seem to go against everything I was taught and you can't help but think how they get away with it. Whilst being one of the only English personnel on my line, it also proves a problem communicating these problems with the people concerned. I am very often told to just go away, or ignored totally, or alienated and not spoken to for the eight hours of my shift, other than when i have my half hour break, which causes me some sense of concern about the consumer and company I work for, as I totally enjoy my job and couldn't work for a better company. What – if anything – can i do about these issues without losing my job or being hated by the other personnel, thus making it unbearable to work there?

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