A food recall can hit your restaurant without warning. If your team isn’t ready to act immediately, you risk harming your customers and your brand. We’ve seen it happen: a supplier delivers a contaminated ingredient, it gets served unknowingly, and the recall makes national news. But when handled well, public health risks are minimized, and brand reputation stays intact.
As consumer trust in food safety has dropped to an all-time low, recent recalls have included shrimp, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, deli meat, and more. For restaurants, whether a large chain or a single independent, a well-managed recall can help minimize damages, protect public health, maintain brand reputation, and boost customer trust. Here’s how to accomplish this:
Before a Recall
Prepare in advance.
Key actions: Create a recall plan that outlines exactly what to do in a recall, indicating which team members will lead key functions (e.g., communication, compliance, etc.) Document the proper steps to follow, create templates, and use your recall plan as a roadmap during a stressful recall to keep employees on track.
Don’t just prepare your internal team—align with your trading partners.
Key actions: Coordinate with your trading partners, clarifying expectations around recalls. Determine, for instance, how your suppliers will alert you when they issue a recall. Set up integrated systems for data flow before a recall occurs. This helps streamline the process, pinpoint the exact locations of tainted products along the supply chain, and ensure accurate information for everyone involved.
Train your team and hold mock simulations with your trading partners.
Key actions: Train your staff regularly. Hold mock simulations with your trading partners to ensure that everyone knows what to do in a recall. These exercises should go beyond traceability, practicing the full recall process, including decision-making, cross-functional communication, stakeholder notification, and documentation. Use mock simulations to identify and fix knowledge gaps.
During a Recall
Identify product information.
Key actions:Gather accurate information about the affected products, including product names, SKUs, lot numbers, production dates, and shipping logs. It’s not enough to know that lettuce was recalled—you must know unequivocally which batches were impacted and whether your restaurant has any contaminated products. Use integrated tech systems to gather and share accurate information. Leverage traceability software that links ingredients, production, and distribution data in one centralized place. These tech tools reduce the time it takes to identify the impacted products, so you can act faster.
Define the problem.
Key actions:Collect accurate information before communicating recall messages. Sharing incomplete, inaccurate, or vague details could hinder recall efforts, increase fear and speculation, and prolong public health risks.
Rely on tech tools.
Key actions:Rely on integrated technologies to streamline collaboration and boost transparency with your trading partners. Tech solutions allow supply chain partners to better pinpoint where tainted products traveled, helping determine whether your restaurant received any contaminated items. Ditch the manual or disjointed systems so you’re not frantically sifting through paper files or outdated Excel files for critical product information at a time when every moment counts.
Communicate essential messages to key stakeholders.
Key actions:Once you’ve gathered the facts, communicate to key audiences—including employees, customers, regulators, the media—being transparent about what happened and what happens next. Tailor messages to specific stakeholders. Use loyalty programs, social media posts, press releases, and onsite signage to alert key audiences.
Follow proper recall protocols.
Key actions: Ensure all locations follow disposition directions for contaminated products. Keep careful records around product quantities, disposal methods, etc. Be certain that all recalled products are pulled from walk-ins, freezers, dry storage, prep areas, etc. Thoroughly clean and sanitize all food preparation areas, surfaces, equipment, utensils, etc. that may have come into contact with the tainted products.
Adjust your menu, as necessary.
Key actions: If you’ve received contaminated lettuce, you’ll need to pivot, either temporarily removing salads from your menu, or sourcing safe lettuce from another vendor. During the McDonald’s recall, certain locations temporarily stopped serving items with onions out of an abundance of caution.
Provide exceptional customer support.
Key actions: Handle guests’ questions and complaints about the recall with understanding. Answer customers’ concerns promptly. Monitor and respond to social media comments. Be supportive and empathetic to maintain customer trust, satisfaction, and loyalty.
Keep detailed records to meet compliance.
Key actions: Maintain detailed records about the incident, including the reason for the recall, number of recalled products recovered, method of disposal, and recall-related communication with suppliers and regulators. Use digital reporting tools, which improve the reporting process and increase efficiency and accuracy.
After a Recall
Wrap up. Even though everyone is eager to be done with a recall, it’s important to debrief with your team and trading partners about what went well and what could be improved. Share key learnings, then update your plan (and processes) accordingly. Continue training and preparation so you’re ready for the next incident.
As we’ve seen, recalls can happen to any food business at any time. Therefore, prepare your team in advance, with ongoing training and collaborative mock recalls. Pivot away from outdated manual systems and rely on integrated tech solutions to elevate your recall response. Watch how other restaurants have properly managed recalls, and follow their lead. These efforts will help your restaurant reduce risks, protect public health, maintain your brand reputation, and boost consumer trust.
Roger Hancock, CEO of Recall InfoLink is one of the world’s foremost experts on recalls, with experience that spans the retail, tech, data, regulatory, and supply chain. Recall InfoLink makes recalls faster, easier, and more accurate across the supply chain to protect consumers and brands. As the only company focused entirely on recalls, Recall InfoLink’s solutions drive immediate action, streamline the recall process, and simplify compliance. Recall InfoLink helps brands become Recall Ready by standardizing data, collaborating with their supply chains, and practicing recall simulations.
