Food and drink recalls jump, according to RPC research

Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) said the number of UK recalls rose from 56 to 84. 

The annual research covers from 1 November 2014 to 31 October 2015 and is based on information from the Trading Standards Institute, the Food Standards Agency, RAPEX and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

After the horsemeat scandal in 2013, the National Food Crime Unit was established in 2014 to uncover incidents of food fraud in the UK.

Why the increase?​

RPC said that this unit as well as the increasing importance being placed by supermarkets on supply chains may have led to the rise in food product recalls in the last year. 

Gavin Reese, partner at RPC, said sometimes it can take a huge scandal to break for an industry to sit up, take notice and ensure products are watertight.

“We can’t say yet whether it is a trend or a blip [that food recalls are as high since 2007/08 when they were up at 88] but from our figures there is a significant spike,” ​he told FoodQualityNews.

“We speculated horsegate as one of the reasons as afterwards, the majority invested in the supply chain and with the National Food Crime Unit there is more focus on the food chain and food packaging. Supermarkets were not directly responsible but had their names dragged through the mud and as a result took a careful look at their supply chain.​

“Businesses are concerned and are perhaps flushing out more issues which could be part of the reason for the increase. It is difficult to isolate one cause, there are a number of factors, consumers are more involved, there is social media so any issue is very quickly brought to the attention of the manufacturer.” ​

Reputational risk​

Reese said other factors were the global supply chain and the fact that multiple regulatory agencies are looking at issues and could identify a problem.

“There are product recalls every day, if the company handles it properly then the consumer may be put off for a little while but not for good, unless it is a real issue which forced the recall and someone was badly injured,” ​he said.

“With precautionary recalls the bigger cost can be reputational as if you get it wrong the brand is not trusted anymore. ​

“In the next year or two we will have a better idea if it is a blip or a trend. In the previous years we have had 43, 58 and 56 so there is a spike but it is difficult to know if it is a one off year or this is the new normal.”​

RPC advises manufacturers, suppliers and retailers on all issues relating to products and provides advice and support in the event of a recall or potential one.

The firm said product recalls are increasingly scrutinised in the media and are capable of doing considerable damage to a company's reputation if handled badly.

Product recalls in the UK across different sectors jumped by 26% to 310 in 2014/15 from 245 in 2013/14, said the law firm.

It added when recall figures were first collected ten years ago there was less than half the amount with just 149 in 2004/5.