Rising Recalls: Poultry products top the list

According to a report from Stericycle ExpertSOLUTIONS, recalls of chicken and other poultry meats were at their highest level since 2002, just as it was revealed that chicken has overtaken red meat as the most popular meat in Britain. As of May 2017, recalls of poultry were at their highest level in over ten years and 9 out of 10 recalled poultry meats were contaminated with potentially deadly bacteria making it the third highest total since at least 1999.

As more people dine alone and red meat slowly falls out of fashion, the versatility of fresh poultry has seen sales soar in recent years. However, the recall report published shows that, of those poultry products many may contain dangerous and potentially deadly bacteria, posing a significant threat to the consumer.
The curtailing by the EU of meat imports from Brazil after exporters allegedly bribed inspectors to overlook practices including the processing of rotten meat, shipping products with salmonella traces, and failing to carry out inspections directly correlates to the rise in poultry recalls.

Farzad Henareh, European Vice President at Stericycle ExpertSOLUTIONS, said: “The ongoing investigation of food inspection practices in Brazil continues to have a serious knock-on effect for EU imports. However, recalls relating to food originating from other countries indicates that the industry still needs to employ the most rigorous approach to food safety, and the risks remain high. Adherence to the strict regulatory standards in the EU is an absolute must.”

The Stericycle Q2 2017 Recall and Notification Index reveals that there were over 200 recalls of poultry products, with bacterial contamination being the culprit for more than 93% of unsafe withdrawals. Salmonella was the main factor for poultry contamination, as well as aflatoxins playing a significant role which can affect the liver and cause acute toxicity. An example of this would be food products such as nuts originating in hot, humid countries that are then transported.

According to the Stericycle report, 66.5% of food recalls originated in non-EU countries, with Brazil being the major exporter during the second quarter of 2017. Other exporters included India with 68 recalls, Turkey with 60 and China with 51. Spain was the only European country in the top 5, with 70 recalls. But is this all relative to the number of products that are churned out?

A spokesperson from Tesco said: "There’s nothing more important than the safety of our customers, so we will immediately recall affected batches of a product if we think they pose a risk. Our robust processes ensure our products are safe and of the highest quality. Consequently recalls are extremely rare. It’s worth remembering we sell tens of thousands of products – only a tiny fraction need to be recalled.”

The higher-than-average volume calculates to nearly ten food recalls every day with a total of 959 notifications in Q2 2017 which is an alarming increase of 24% compared to the previous quarter. During 2016 to 2017 there were 698 more incidents reported in comparison to 2013 to 2014, amounting to rise of 44%. Regulations are in place, but more work needs to be done to stop the rising number of recalls. So what are the next steps for traders?

“Despite increasingly strict regulations and efforts made to safeguard against potentially harmful products, every industry will encounter problems,” says Henareh. “Manufacturers have had to deal with numerous intensive challenges over the last quarter, with recalls increasingly becoming part of doing business. Our Q2 Recall Index clearly shows it makes business sense to maintain risk assessments and seek out stable recall programmes in order to ensure consumer safety and avoid business disruption.”