FOOD RECALLS:

MAKE A PLAN AND ACTION IT!
MANUFACTURERS' GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

   
   

2. Make a Plan
   • Overview
   • Recall Management Team
   • Complaint File
   • Recall Contact List - CFIA
   • Tracing of Raw Ingredients, Packaging Materials & Finished Products
   • Production Amounts
   • Distribution Records and Distribution Record System
   • Recalled Product Records
   • Recall Procedures
   • Recall Effectiveness Procedures
   • Testing Your Recall Plan

   
   

3. Action Your Recall Plan: Steps to an Effective Recall
   • Introduction
   • Assemble Your Recall Management Team
   • Notify the CFIA
   • Identify All Products to be Recalled
   • Detain & Segregate Products to be Recalled
   • Prepare the Press Release
   • Prepare the Distribution List
   • Prepare and Distribute the Notice of Recall
   • Verify the Effectiveness of the Recall
   • Control of the Recalled Product
   • Decide What to do with the Returned Product
   • Fix the Cause of the Recall
   • Common Problems with Recalls, Potential Impacts & Recommended Solutions
   • Appendix A: Press Release - Industry Template, Allergens
   • Appendix B: Notice of Recall - Template

   
   

4. General Reference Information on Recalls
   • Definitions
   • Recall Classifications

INTRODUCTION

What is a food recall?

Food manufacturers use many controls to make sure that the products they produce are safe. Sometimes, for many different reasons, a product may be manufactured and sold which may make some people ill or injure them, or is in violation of the legislation. When an unsafe ir violative food product has left the control of the manufacturer, it must be removed from the market. This process of removing the product is called a “recall”. If your company has made a product which is unsafe or violative and you have sold the product to someone else, you must recall the product. If you choose not to conduct a recall, the Minister of Agriculture may order you to conduct the recall under Section 19 of the Canadian Food Inspection Act. This applies to all manufacturers which have sold an unsafe food product.

What is the goal of this guide?

Ask yourself these questions.

“If you needed to remove a product from the market right now, would you be able to do it?”
“Would you be able to remove the product quickly?”
“Would you be able to remove all of the product?”
“If a supplier advised you that an ingredient or package they have sold you is unsafe, and you have used the ingredient or package to make a product, would you be able to identify that product(s) and remove it from the market?”

The goal of this guide is to provide you with an overview of how to develop a recall plan and how to action that plan in the event of a recall. It will assist you in identifying products which are unsafe and enable you to recall the product(s) from the market place.