Recall Incident Support

Feb/09

“The ability to respond to an incident anywhere and at any time defines a successful crisis management service”

The RQA incident support service described below is available by direct contract or it comes included with AIG Contaminated Products Insurance or AIG Recall Insurance.

08:00 The day started as with any other. A team of project managers and coordinators were busy in the RQA office in Reading managing all the projects and activities. Our food safety consultants and product recall specialists were on-site with companies around Europe including Denmark, France, Germany, Portugal, The Netherlands, and the U.K.

08:56 The first incident call of the day came into our product recall crisis line. A Dutch client was concerned about the impact of the dioxin contamination of Irish pork on their products. They wanted assistance in identifying a suitable laboratory to carry out the dioxin tests. We assigned one of our team to liaise with the client to provide this information.
As this was our 4th call on dioxins in a matter of days, we were able to pass on other factors that the company should consider in the management of this issue.

11:07 A client in France also concerned about dioxins became our second incident call that day. We assigned another consultant and the focus was on traceability, safety and handling the authorities and retailers.

11:22 Our third incident call that day was from a client that had received reports of possible foreign bodies being found in their food product. RQA assigned a consultant who supported the client in helping to identify the foreign body and carrying out a risk assessment. They then helped to develop a plan of action in case a decision to recall needed to be taken.

11:40 The next incident call involved toys with a possible faulty part. Our consultant visited the company to offer support in developing a robust risk assessment. Once this had been done, a plan of action was developed.

12:47 Our fifth call came from a client who was concerned that their raw materials from China may be contaminated and these raw materials were being used to manufacture finished food products. Our consultant advised on testing, traceability and provided a series of questions to be put to the client’s supplier in order to rapidly determine the facts of the case.

13:20 The sixth incident call came from a client who had a possible Listeria contamination in their food product. This was potentially a very serious case and needed significant support. A consultant was assigned to assist the investigation and advise on testing, legislation, traceability, and the interaction with authorities and customers.

14:02 The seventh and final incident call of the day came in via our colleagues in the USA. The client in the US had a supplier in Europe who needed advice on mycotoxins contamination. The client received a rapid response with the details they needed in order to develop their plan of action. Some of these cases were resolved rapidly without recall action being required, and others did require withdrawals and recalls. That was a busy day, but if we were hoping for a rest, we only had to wait until 14:05 the next day for the next call to our incident response line.