By Roger Hancock, CEO of Recall InfoLink
Key takeaways:
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Establish calm, clear leadership and structure: Stay composed, activate a cross-functional crisis team (production, legal, communications), and use defined decision-making protocols to prevent confusion and rash actions.
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Prioritize accurate data and communication: Clearly define the scope of affected products, maintain transparent, actionable communication across audiences, and coordinate messaging with trading partners for a unified response.
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Leverage technology and continuous improvement: Use integrated systems for traceability and collaboration, document every step for compliance, and review lessons learned to strengthen future recall preparedness.
Product recalls are among the most stressful events that food businesses can face. Whether triggered by contamination, mislabeling, or a consumer complaint, recalls bring immense pressure from regulators, trading partners, and the public — all while your company scrambles to compile accurate information and make decisions to protect public health and your brand reputation.
As a food industry executive, all eyes will be on you when recalls occur. Therefore, follow these best practices to help your team focus on the areas that matter most.
Stay calm
The first hours of a recall are often disorienting. You’re trying to gather information, squash rumors, and lead your team through an extremely stressful situation. Stay calm — your team will be looking at you to set the tone during the crisis. Follow established best practices, and don’t rush to act until you gather the facts. Focus on making steady, responsible progress.
Activate your crisis team
Galvanize internal experts. Your team should include at the minimum:
- Production/quality who know the product, batches, and processes involved
- Regulatory/legal to manage compliance and reduce exposure
- Communications/PR to craft and deliver messages for internal and external audiences
Establish decision-making protocol
Recalls unfold in real time, and decisions rarely stop after the first one. Establish processes that guide how your team gathers facts, escalates issues, evaluates options, and adjusts as new information emerges. Build a framework supported by clear checkpoints and criteria for when to initiate, when to expand, and when to close an event. These protocols keep everyone aligned and prevent reactive choices that can slow response or increase risk.
Define the problem
Before you speak publicly, clearly define what is affected and where the products have traveled. This step reduces confusion, prevents over- or under-scoping, and speeds retrieval. Compile accurate information so you can communicate effectively and drive proper actions, including:
- Data that identifies the problem: contamination, undeclared allergen, mislabeling, foreign material
- Affected item attributes: SKUs, item descriptions, lot and batch codes, production dates, best-by dates
- Product locations: in-house inventory, on trucks, at distributors or retailers, already with consumers
Emphasize communication
Once you issue a recall, focus on clear, actionable communication. Tailor messages to specific audiences (public, business, regulatory). Use multiple distribution channels to maximize awareness. Be clear about the risk and what products are affected. Tell people exactly what to do, emphasizing the urgency of the situation. Format matters — tables and bullet points are easier to read than paragraphs — and include photos of the affected packaging. Safety depends on people taking fast, correct action, and that starts with what and how you communicate.
Collaborate with trading partners
Shift from an individual company approach to a supply-chain approach, working collaboratively with your trading partners. When brands act in isolation, it often causes delays, inaccuracies, and confusion. Work with your trading partners to establish clear protocols about how information will be shared and received, and make sure everyone is on the same page with messaging, expected action, and event resolution.
Utilize integrated tech systems
Tech solutions can dramatically improve collaboration, visibility, traceability, and efficiency, allowing your company to expedite recall management. Use integrated platforms that connect your product data, supply chain partners, and communication channels in one place. Shared tools — such as dedicated chat rooms or Slack channels, digital whiteboards for task tracking, and video links for real-time collaboration — help teams stay aligned and make faster decisions. Traceability and recall-focused tools maintain accurate, real-time records of product movements and storage locations that help your recall run more quickly and smoothly.
Track progress and adjust accordingly
A recall moves quickly and changes often, so constantly track progress. Once notifications go out, verify action, close gaps, and update scope as new facts emerge. Continuously work to confirm that trading partners have removed affected products, track retrieval, identify bottlenecks, and expand scope, if necessary. Update messaging so key stakeholders such as trading partners, consumers, and regulators have access to real-time recall status and instructions.
Document everything
From the moment you suspect a recall to the day regulators close it, maintain detailed documentation. Keep records of who you notified (and when/how), when decisions were made and by whom, which products were retrieved/destroyed, and how long each step took. Regulators will require this, and it’s also your best tool for debriefing and improving later.
Consider lessons learned
After a recall, review all processes and documentation, determining areas that could be improved. Implement corrective actions and update procedures accordingly.
Don’t think of recalls as a sign that your company failed. Instead, catching a food safety issue is often a sign that your system worked as it should. The recall itself won’t necessarily harm your brand reputation — if you manage the situation properly. When you follow these best practices — using the right systems and tools — you’ll elevate recall management, protect public health, maintain your brand reputation, and demonstrate that you take food safety seriously.
Roger Hancock, CEO of Recall InfoLink is one of the world’s foremost experts on recalls, with experience that spans the retail, tech, data, regulatory, and supply chain. Recall InfoLink makes recalls faster, easier, and more accurate across the supply chain to protect consumers and brands. As the only company focused entirely on recalls, Recall InfoLink’s solutions drive immediate action, streamline the recall process, and simplify compliance. Recall InfoLink helps brands become Recall Ready by standardizing data, collaborating with their supply chains, and practicing recall simulations.
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