Cost of Recall in Food Processing
What is the Cost of Recall in Food Processing?
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service), there were 124 food recalls in 2019 that amounted to more than 20 million pounds of food recalled. This included nearly 700,000 pounds of beef, 600,000 pounds of fish, 1.36 million pounds of pork, and 17 million pounds of poultry and eggs.
According to a report from the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the estimated cost of food recall is $30 million, with a fourth of survey participants reporting even higher costs. 81 percent of those surveyed described the financial risk of a recall as “significant to catastrophic” for their company.
A breakdown of those direct and indirect costs include:
- Halting of production
- Notification of recall to regulatory bodies, supply chain, and consumers
- Product retrieval, including the logistics of storage and destruction of recalled products
- Root cause investigations
- Correction of the issue to avoid future contamination
- Litigation and lawsuit expenses
- Required government oversight
- Compliance penalties
- Impacts to insurance policies
- Loss of sales
- Impact to brand reputation
How to Prevent Food Recall
- Perform regular cleaning and sanitation
- Ensure you have the right motors for the job
- Establish an effective Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) program
- Learn from any “near misses” that occur
- Review communications protocol and update on a regular basis
- Create processes for documentation
How Washdown Duty Motors Can Help
One way for those in the food processing industry to avoid food recall is to have the right components for the job. Washdown motors can stand up to the toughest environments and withstand constant exposure to high pressure sprays and harsh chemicals while preventing any bacteria build-up.
Regal Rexnord’s LEESON® brand offers an extensive collection of washdown duty motors in a variety of ratings and certifications. Most recently, the Extreme Duck® Ultra motor was released with an IP69 certification, delivering watertight and contamination-free peace of mind. IP69 certified products, including motors, have been widely adopted by the food processing industry because of their use in high temperature cleaning and sanitizing procedures where chemicals cannot penetrate food items.
Customer testimonials have shown two meat processing facilities save over $1M in operating expenses by transitioning their production line motors to the new Extreme Duck Ultra model. Want to see for yourself? Ask our Regal Rexnord experts how you can incorporate an IP69 motor into your production line.
Looking Ahead
The FDA is currently rewriting the Food Code with their “New Era of Smarter Food Safety” approach. These advances will build off the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which went from reacting to foodborne illness to preventing it. The Strategic Blueprint for the new Food Code outlines how the FDA will leverage technology to create a “more digital, traceable and safer food system”. One of the main areas of focus will be on reducing contamination of food.
We can expect the high cost of recall in food processing will only continue to grow. It’s important for companies to protect their bottom line by planning ahead and being proactive in upgrading their processing lines with the right equipment.
Talk to one of our expert sales professionals about how our solutions can efficiently power your business.