Labels get the rap for a third of food recalls

Incorrect labelling is responsible for a third of the 658 food recalls in Australia and New Zealand between 2003 and 2012, says intelligent product identification and traceability provider Matthews Australasia.

Big and small companies alike can be caught with costly product recalls, says Matthews in its latest white paper, Avoiding Recalls Due to Packaging and Labelling Faults.

Undeclared allergens, it says, account for around 91 per cent (206 recalls) of the labelling faults, according to statistics from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).

Woolworths’ Cookies with Mars four-pack, for example, were recalled in 2012 due to a packaging fault – incorrectly labelled as Mars flavoured instead of Snickers meant an undeclared allergen, as Snickers contains peanuts.

Duncan Hines cupcake mix was similarly recalled from Woolworths, Safeway, Food For Less and Flemings Supermarkets nationally, thanks to undeclared milk and tree nuts.

The same year, Coles had to recall its Spicy Capsicum Dip due to undeclared traces of tree nuts and sesame.

These recalls, says Matthews, add up in costs as companies fork out for newspaper advertisements, lost stock, stock recovery, additional testing and destruction.

A national recall of 17,680 cartons of frozen processed chicken cost one major retailer $250,000 – stock valued at $75,000, recovery at $120,000, it says.

A second retailer recalling fruit cake in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia was hit with $53,737 costs.

The company says its vision systems have the potential to help avoid label-related disasters, as they are capable of inspecting, identifying, counting and measuring products.

This includes checking labels, barcodes, caps, bottle rims, product formation, use-by dates, tamper seals, lids, label matches and product orientation – alerting operators to errors before the product is shipped.

 

GO TO MORE PACKAGING NEWS