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Valuable Information for Companies in the Food Industry |
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Welcome to PSV Food Safety Consultants
Welcome to our newsletter. It delivers important news and information, as well as identifying useful resources that can enhance your organization's competitiveness in the food industry. Our focus is on helping you to achieve and maintain approved food safety certifications. In doing so, we typically become a valued business partner to our clients. |
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Are You Ready to Legally Defend your Food Company?
Today, successfully handling a food safety recall is just the first step
 companies must take to defend their organizations. Close behind subsequent FDA scrutiny comes an army of hungry attorneys seeking damages for clients affected by adulterated products.
To protect themselves, manufacturers of food products must demonstrate "due diligence" in preparation processes. According to Mettler Toledo: "In law, we each have a 'Duty of Care' which requires that we adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. The 'Standard of Care' is the degree of watchfulness, attentiveness, prudence and caution of an individual who is under a 'Duty of Care'. In the food industry, the Standard of Care' is determined by the standard that would be exercised by the reasonably prudent manufacturer of a product. Failure to meet the standard could be regarded as negligence, and any resulting damages may be claimed in a lawsuit by the injured party."
Food recalls are both a public health issue and a significant economic issue. The average cost of a recall to a food company is  $10M USD in direct costs, in addition to brand damage and lost sales according to a joint industry study by the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers' Association.
"Robust recordkeeping practices and sufficient product coding/lot numbers can help companies quickly identify the source and scope of a product problem and better track, trace and recall particular products in the event of a product emergency. Detailed manufacturing, processing and testing records can help show, for example, that a tainted ingredient was only used in specific lots of product that were manufactured on a specific date at one production facility. This type of information can help limit the scope and cost of a product recall," states Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.
If your organization needs assistance in becoming certified to a food safety standard, preparing for vendor or re-certification audits, or being ready for HARPC compliance under the FSMA landscape, we can provide affordable local consultants to assist you. Learn more at Food Safety Consultants, a North American alliance of highly experienced consultants with proven track records.
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