Market Withdrawal

Market Withdrawal can be defined as the removal or correction of a distributed product which involves a minor violation that would not be subject to legal action by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or which involves no violation, e.g., normal stock rotation practices, routine equipment adjustments, and repairs.

A voluntary market withdrawal involves removing products from the supply chain, where the food has not reached the consumer and effectively notifying consumers of the risk.

The installation of a robust market withdrawal system could significantly reduce the overall costs of a recall.

These events can be planned for through contingency and crisis management strategies, which facilitate the speed with which a recall or market withdrawal can be completed.

A withdrawal system that is routinely tested allows the manufacturer to quickly identify the implicated products’ location in the marketing chain and permits immediate quarantine of the suspect product from the market before it reaches retail distribution.

Thus, a well-rehearsed market withdrawal system would reduce the major costs of damage to manufacturers’ reputations and reimbursements to consumers. In defining the scope of a food withdrawal, food manufacturers must be able to demonstrate the reasons for limiting the withdrawal/recall to certain batches and that other batches are not unsafe.

Market withdrawal is required if one of the following situations occurs:
• A manufacturer or distributor discovers a food safety issue and contacts FDA directly
• Inspection of a manufacturing facility by FDA reveals a potential cause for recall
• A beer, or brewer fails testing carried out through FDA
• In the case of illness associated with a specific product, individual state health departments will contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which in turn contacts FDA.
Market Withdrawal

Sensory Testing

Sensory testing utilizes one or more of the five senses to evaluate foods. Taste panels, comprising groups of people, taste specific food samples under controlled conditions and evaluate them in different ways depending on the particular sensory test being conducted. 

This is the only type of testing that can measure consumer preference and acceptability. 

When it comes to public opinion of a product, there is no substitute for tasting by individual consumers. 

In addition to a taste –panel evaluation, objective tests can be established that correlate with sensory testing, which give an indication of consumer acceptability, but this may not always be sufficient. 

In the development of new foods or when changing an existing product, it is necessary to determine consumer acceptance directly and objective testing is not sufficient, even though it may be a reliable, objective indication of food quality. 

Sensory methods may be used to determine: 

*Whether foods differ in taste, odor, juiciness, tenderness, texture and so on. 

*To what extend food differ 

*To ascertain consumer preferences and to determine whether a certain food is acceptable to a specific consumer group. Three types of sensory testing are commonly used, each with different goal. 

Discrimination or difference tests are design to determine whether there is a difference between products, descriptive tests determine the extent of difference in specific sensory characteristics and affective or acceptance/preference tests determine how well the products are liked or which products are preferred. 

There are important differences between these types of tests. It is important to select the appropriate type of test so that the results obtained are able to answer the question being asked about the products and are useful to the manufacturer or product developer. 

The appropriate tests must be used under suitable conditions in order for results to be interpreted correctly. 

All testing must be carried out under controlled conditions, with controlled lighting, sound (no noise), and temperature to minimize distractions and other adverse psychological factors. 

Sensory Testing

Product Recall: Hazard Evaluation and Recall Strategy

Product Recall: Hazard Evaluation and Recall Strategy
Hazard Evaluation
An important step in recall procedure is to evaluate the existing hazard to determine if a recall is warranted. The company or regulatory agency should answer the following:

• Has disease or injury already occurred?

• Could exposure to humans be a health hazard?

• Asses hazard according to population of greatest risk (children, hospital, retirement communities, etc)

• Degrees of seriousness if exposed?

• Likelihood of occurrence (exposure)?

• Consequence of hazard (immediate or long term)?

• Classification of recall I, II, III

Recall Strategy
All companies should have a detailed plan to follow should the hazard evaluation warrant a recall. Some critical elements to consider in planning recall strategies are:

• The depth of recall (warehouse, wholesale, retails, consumer levels).

• Whether or not to issue a public warning, to what signet of the public the warning would be directed, and through what media (general, newspaper, TV, radio or though special groups: doctors, etc.)

• Method of recall effectiveness checks to determine how many have received the recall notice.

Product Recall: Hazard Evaluation and Recall Strategy