Product Recall: Policy and Classification

Product Recall: Policy and Classification
Recall Policy
There are basically three types of recall policies

• Voluntary recalls are the most common method of effectively removing or correcting consumer products in violation of FDA and USDA regulations.

• Recalls may be requested by the regulatory agencies due to the product being harmful, a risk to the public, or out of compliance with food regulations.

• Product seizures occur when manufacturers refuse to recall a product or when the recall is ineffective and the violation continues.

Recall Classification

• Class I recall is the situation in which there is reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequence or death.

• Class II recall is the situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.

• Class III recall is the situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences.

Product Recall: Policy and Classification

Shelf life of a product

The perception of quality of a product also depends on its form-fresh, frozen, canned or dried. Processing of fruits and vegetables extends the season of a perishable crop. Heat preservation (canning) provides a shelf-stable product, but usually at the cost of color, flavor, and texture. 

Better sensory quality is obtained in frozen foods but at a cost if increased energy requirement to maintain them, in a frozen state. Dried fruit products such as raisins and prunes offer very different attributes than their fresh counterparts. The consumer judges canned products with a different set of criteria than frozen or fresh items of the same commodity. 

Fresh fruits and vegetables are perishable, i.e., they have limited shelf life. They are living, respiring tissue that is also senescing and dying. Certain fruits such as bananas and tomatoes will ripen after harvest, developing desirable color, texture, and flavor during handling and storage. All other fruits and vegetables such as oranges, grapes, cucumbers, and carrots will show little or no improvement in quality within the postharvest system. 

Packing and handling systems have been developed to move the product from farm to consumer expeditiously to minimize quality degradation. Techniques used to extend shelf life of fresh products include 

Lowering the temperature to slow respiration and senescence 

Maintaining an optimal relative humidity to slow water loss without accelerating decay 

Adding chemical preservatives to halt physiological and microbial losses 

Maintaining an optimal gaseous environment to slow respiration and senescence

Longer shelf life can also be obtained by selecting cultivars that are more able to withstand the rigors of the handling system and by harvesting a crop at optimal maturity for storage and handling. 

Shelf life of a product