ISSN 2348-313X (Print) International Journal of Life Sciences Research ISSN 2348-3148 (online) Vol. 9, Issue 2, pp: (20-25), Month: April - June 2021, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Combating Food Safety Recalls Upstream, Dissecting the Recalls, Market, and Safety Alert Registry Delano A. Chambers, Ph.D.1, Donesh Johnson-Drummond, MPH2. 2
College of Natural and Applied Sciences, Allied Health and Nursing, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica W.I.
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Correspondence to: Delano A. Chambers, Ph.D., M.Sc., LSSMBB, food safety and quality assurance, Wilson, North Carolina, USA. 27893, email: delano.chambers@ncu.edu.jm or delano.chambers7@gmail.com
Abstract: There exist many recalls of biological, physical, and chemical nature listed on the United States Food and Drug Administration’s ‘live’ Recalls, Market, and Safety Alert Registry, which indicates failure in the production process. Of the 1593 entries as of 5/10/2021, 1001 or 62.8% affects the food and beverage industry alone; understanding that not all recalls are listed on this registry. Of the 1001 entries, 679 or 67.8% have been terminated meeting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) definition of termination. Of the 1001, an estimated 40.16% were biological, 55.44% chemical including allergen, and 3.89% physical by nature. While much focus is placed on ready to eat facilities as the final stage pre-consumer, one cannot overlook further upstream in the production process such as pre-processors, whereby if prevented at this stage it reduces the risk of potential hazards getting to consumers. The verification and validation steps of pre-processors prerequisite programs become vital in this fight to ensuring consumers receive safe and highest quality product. The production process remains a dynamic beast especially during these unprecedented times of a global pandemic, but a quick look at the registry will note that even during such strenuous times, recalls are still being made which impact all processors in the production process as some companies in recent history have even shut their doors permanently after recall. The focus of this paper therefore considers steps that may be taken by pre-processors to verify and validate their prerequisite programs especially when controls are not in place, thereby reducing risk downstream. Keywords: Recall, pre-processors, verification, validation, prerequisite programs, consumers.
1. INTRODUCTION The dreaded account of food safety recalls continues to reap havoc even during a global pandemic, rippling through the industry from fork to farm, the direction of impact on businesses. While almost all recalls are voluntary1, most of the recalls published on the „live‟ or always updating, Recalls, Market Withdrawal, and Safety Alerts2 or mainly from the Food and Beverage Industry. For instance, of the 1593 entries between 1/17/2017 to 5/10/2021, 1001 or 62.8% affects this industry alone; understanding that not all recalls are listed on this registry. Of the 1001 entries, 679 or 67.8% have been terminated, meaning, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that all reasonable efforts have been made to remove or correct the violative product in accordance with the recall strategy, and proper disposition has been made according to the degree of hazard2.
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Independent scholar with over ten years in the industry, six as a research analysis involved with testing of agricultural produce for export from Jamaica at Northern Caribbean University, and four in the United States as a quality assurance manager and food safety specialist involved with developing, implementing, and managing food safety and quality management program, achieving regulatory and voluntary certifications and compliance. An SQF practitioner and approved lead instructor candidate for the Food Safety Preventive Control Alliance, will continue to contribute to further development of teams and programs in the industry as needed.
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