Just one poultry recall negatively affects consumer demand

Preventing recalls of poultry products has benefits for both consumer health and a company’s bottom line, according to new research published in Food Policy.

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(Bankrx | Bigstock)
(Bankrx | Bigstock)

Preventing recalls of poultry products has benefits for both consumer health and a company’s bottom line, according to new research published in Food Policy.

“This study found that both the number of recent recalls and the volume of food recalled have significant negative effects on the demand for fresh meat,” said Pei Zhou, doctoral candidate in energy, environmental and food economics in the Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences and lead author of the study,

More than 48 million Americans get sick from a foodborne illness each year and 3,000 people die as a result, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates. Contaminated poultry meat is the underlying cause of 19% of deaths attributed to foodborne illnesses.

Using Nielsen Retail Scanner Data from 2012 to 2016 and data on recalls from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the researchers found that different types of recalls impacted consumer demand uniquely.

“Class I recalls, large recalls caused by product contamination, recalls due to produce without benefit of inspection or import violation and recalls discovered by government agencies are more likely to cause a larger loss in meat demand,” Zhou explained.

Minimizing the fallout from a poultry product recall

“Poultry companies could take action to prevent recalls by increasing the mandatory inspection of products prior to food distribution, to reduce recall scales and to respond quickly by developing standard regulations, guides and procedures for recalling,” Zhou added.

Specifically, Zhou recommended that poultry companies should focus on production hygiene during the production process. For example, increasing the frequency of bacterial contamination testing to prevent Listeria and E. coli.

In addition, a strong internal food safety program can help minimize fallout from recalls.

“Our results suggest that the negative impact on demand from a recall discovered by government agencies is over eight times higher than that initiated by a manufacturer itself. Voluntary recalls continue to be the fastest, most effective way for a company to keep consumers safe and to minimize the loss to the manufacturers themselves,” Zhou said.

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