Run a recall assessment on a kingfish fillet batch

What is going on

Two complaints of bone fragments in kingfish fillets from batch KF-260904-A1 have arrived from two Northgate Supermarkets stores. The batch was 588 kilograms in 5 kilogram cartons processed on 4 September. Forty cartons were stopped at the distribution centre before loading and the batch is on hold, but other cartons went to Northgate and possibly to other customers earlier in the week. A bone fragment is a physical hazard that can injure a consumer. The General Manager wants a recall assessment today under the Product Recall and Withdrawal Procedure: a full trace, an evaluation of the batch, the sales picture, and a recommendation on whether this is a trade withdrawal or a consumer recall, with the customer notification and regulator advice drafted.

Your brief

Trace the batch one step back and one step forward within four hours, evaluate the batch and the likely cause, reconcile every carton, recommend the level of recall, draft the customer notification and regulator advice, and prepare the recall team briefing and the close out plan.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

• Read the Product Recall and Withdrawal Procedure and the Food Safety and Quality Policy, and list the triggers, the recall team, the four hour trace requirement and the notification rules.
• Trace batch KF-260904-A1 one step back in the Processing Batch and Traceability Register: harvest lot, cage, processing date, line, shift, critical control point checks and metal detection records.
• Trace one step forward in the Cold Chain and Dispatch Register: every consignment that shipped the batch, the customer, the quantity and the date, and reconcile against the output and the stock on hold.
• Evaluate the held cartons: inspect a sample for bones, review the pin boning step and any staffing or equipment change on the line that day, and record findings and the likely cause.
• Assess the hazard and recommend trade withdrawal or consumer recall using the procedure and the national recall protocol, with reasons.
• Draft the customer notification for every customer holding the batch, with product, batch code, reason and action required, and draft the advice to the food authority.
• Prepare the recall team briefing: trace results, reconciliation, hazard assessment, recommendation, retrieval and disposal plan and the contact log format.
• Record the recall status against the batch in the Processing Batch and Traceability Register and the affected consignments in the Cold Chain and Dispatch Register, and draft the corrective actions for the close out review.

What someone in this role would produce

• A completed trace and reconciliation for KF-260904-A1
• A batch evaluation record with likely cause
• A recall level recommendation with reasons
• Draft customer notification and regulator advice
• A recall team briefing with retrieval, disposal and close out plan