Supporting a client through a recall
Your role when a client’s product may be unsafe: the first hours, who calls whom, the records to pull, and what comes after.
In a recall, the client is the sponsor and makes the decisions; you keep them on their plan. Help them stop and hold the product, pull the traceability records, and phone their state food agency straight away (in Victoria, the Department of Health). Once a recall is confirmed, the FSANZ Food Recall Coordinator helps coordinate it. Then support the customer notifications, stock recovery and the reports that follow.
Client does, you support
Based on the FSANZ Food Industry Recall Protocol. Confirm current requirements with your state agency.
| When | Client does | You support |
|---|---|---|
| Straight away | Stops dispatch, holds stock, identifies affected batches and dates | Keep the team on the recall plan; check nothing affected is still moving |
| Same day | Phones the state food enforcement agency | Help prepare the facts: product, batches, quantities, distribution, the hazard |
| Once confirmed | Works with the FSANZ Food Recall Coordinator, who notifies the ACCC on their behalf | Help decide trade or consumer recall level with the agency’s advice |
| Next | Notifies every customer who received the product | Draft notifications; check every customer on the distribution list is covered |
| Ongoing | Recovers and accounts for stock | Reconcile made, sold, recovered and destroyed from the records |
| Within 2 weeks / 1 month | Sends FSANZ an interim and then a final report | Draft the reports, including root cause and preventive actions |
Full legal detail: food recall obligations for Australian manufacturers.
Recall or withdrawal?
Using the wrong word causes confusion with customers and agencies. A recall removes food that may be unsafe, and is notified. A trade recall covers food that went to other businesses but not the public; a consumer recall covers food that may have reached the public. A withdrawal removes food for a quality reason with no safety risk, and isn’t a recall.
Three things to set up with every client
A written recall plan
Manufacturers, wholesalers and importers need a written recall system under Standard 3.2.2. Name who does each step, with phone numbers.
Traceability that works
Batch and lot numbers captured at goods-in and dispatch, so you can trace one batch up and down in minutes, not days.
A mock recall every year
The FSANZ protocol expects the plan to be tested at least annually. Time it, record it, fix what slowed you down.
The records, when the clock is running
When a client logs goods-in in EthicalHub, batch and lot numbers are captured with the supplier and receipt date, so the trace starts from records, not memory. Corrective actions track the root cause and preventive actions for the final report. From the Consultant Dashboard you see the client’s records straight away. The dashboard is free for consultants; clients subscribe from $69 a month per site.
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Recall support: common questions
What does a food safety consultant do during a recall?
Who does a food business call first in a possible recall?
What’s the difference between a recall and a withdrawal?
What reports are needed after a recall?
Ready before it’s urgent.
The Consultant Dashboard is free. See every client’s records when it matters.