You need to have a recall plan in place
You need to:
- have procedures in place to recall food
- follow your procedures if you need to carry out a recall
- recall any food that is (or may be) unsafe or unsuitable.
You must notify the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) about your recall as soon as practicable but within 24 hours of deciding to recall a product.
Tell us what food you are recalling and why a recall is needed. To notify us, either:
- Freephone 0800 00 83 33, or
- email Food.Recalls@mpi.govt.nz
Food recall guidance for businesses
Records must be kept
You must keep records of your recalls, including information on:
- the problem and the extent of the problem
- actions taken to identify and remove food from sale
- actions taken to prevent the problem from happening again
- any monitoring you did of the recall process.
Food importers must keep good records
You need to conduct regular simulated recalls
A simulated recall (or mock recall) tests the effectiveness of your traceability and recall procedures.
It involves developing a scenario, carrying out your scenario in a similar way to a genuine food recall, then reviewing how effective it was to identify any areas for improvement.
Food importers must do a simulated recall at least every 12 months after a simulated recall, or a genuine recall if that recall showed your traceability and recall procedures to be effective.
A successful simulated recall scenario should result in either:
- a consumer-level simulated recall, which involves simulating the process for removing affected product from the supply chain and communicating to consumers, or
- a trade-level simulated recall, which involves simulating the process for removing affected product from the food supply chain.
