People often think bad things “won’t happen to me”, and for many food manufacturers, having confidence in their quality control processes means believing that a recall won’t happen to them.

Yet, many well-known brands have had to recall products despite having strong teams of quality control personnel and state-of-the-art facilities.

Donna Niblock, assistant vice president, crisis management, and Victorian branch manager at Liberty Specialty Markets, notes that in 2023, there were 72 mandatory food and beverage recalls in Australia.

“Depending on where the product is sold and the extent of the contamination, product recall claims can result in costs from $50,000 up to millions of dollars,” says Niblock.

“If the products are sold in the major supermarkets for example, and the contamination has affected several batches, costs can escalate very quickly. Costs include the retailer’s or customer’s recall costs, replacement of the products and loss of gross profit.”

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