According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), more than 13 million pounds of beef, pork, poultry and mixed-meat products were recalled in 2013 alone. More than 12 million pounds of these were “Class I” recalls, which means that there was a real threat to consumer safety and the potential for outbreak of illness as a result of eating the recalled food.
Many of the recalled products include packaged food such as frozen meals and snacks, and ready-to-eat (RTE) meats, and the majority were removed from store shelves because of the presence of dangerous bacteria, including shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), listeria monocytogenes and salmonella. Just as hazardous to some consumers, other causes for recall in 2013 included the presence of undeclared allergens and foreign materials that found their way into finished food products. In addition to the primary importance of product and consumer safety, recalls are also extremely costly to brand owners and can result in irreparable damage to brand reputation resulting from a loss of consumer confidence.