Tyson Foods, Inc. and How to Avoid a Product Recall
In this article, we explore how you can avoid a product recall by using the recent Tyson recall as an example.
Recent Food Recall Example
Tyson Foods, Inc. is the world’s second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork. This past week, Tyson recalled packages of their “Fun Nuggets” line of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. This was done due to complaints reported by customers to have been contaminated with “metal pieces.” One minor oral injury was reported in the release announcing the recall.
Approximately 16,500 packages were shipped to distributors in Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin to be sent to retail stores. (Please ensure you don’t have these in your home! To find more information on the product recall, please check the fsis.usda.gov recall list.)
Impact of a Product Recall
Depending on the size, scope, and cause of recall, your organization can pay upward of $10 million in costs (or more for larger, high-profile recalls). Here are just a few of the associated costs with a food recall:
- Product and Supply Chain Costs: This includes covering costs for retailers, distributors, and consumers affected. It can also include the cost of destroying or disposing of the recalled product.
- Investigation Costs: This includes fees associated with lab testing for contamination, audit expenses, or expenses related to hiring a third party to investigate.
- Legal Costs: Such as legal fees associated with the recall itself. It can also include money spent for lawsuits and settlements from consumers harmed by the recalled product.
- Non-Compliance Costs: Fees for government fines or expenses related to conducting a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) audit.
- Crisis Management Costs: Including fees for managing media or PR inquiries or hiring a crisis management firm.
- Lost Revenue: From the recall itself and current (or future) lost sales, customers, or market share.
- Most Importantly, Reputation Damage: Perhaps the costliest of them all. Reputation damage can include expenses incurred from trying to repair brand image and the cost of losing trust from loyal consumers.
https://flexxray.com/reputation-management-tips-for-food-companies/
“A Harris Poll found that 16% of customers would not buy that same product from a company after it had been recalled, even if the problem was resolved, and 17% would not buy any product from that manufacturer.”
Avoid a Product Recall Due to Metal Contamination
From crop harvest to meat processing, there are many points of entry for metal contamination to enter your food products. Even the smallest metal shaving can have devastating consequences. Bunting offers Food-Grade Magnets for both wet and dry ingredients. These magnets can capture and hold the smallest tramp metal, keeping these contaminants from reaching your customers.
Bunting also offers a range of Metal Detection products. Metal Detectors allow you to quickly inspect your products before anything leaves your facility. Combine these Metal Detectors with Bunting Magnets for the ultimate safety net!
Do you already have Magnets installed? Are you worried that they may not be working as they should? Magnets can and do fail so regular Magnet Audits are important to avoiding a recall. Apex has a team of experts that will travel to your plant and perform your Magnet Audit – Schedule Yours Today!
