Product recalls

Food

Food recalls are a cause of food waste. Recalled food is almost always destroyed. In a small percent of cases, this is justified. But in most cases, there are better solutions that are not being implemented.

Examples

Granola bars that may contain traces of peanuts, and were not labelled as such. For the vast majority of people (i.e. those who don't have extreme peanut allergies), the bars are safe to eat. But the regulations require that the bars be discarded and destroyed. Major waste of food.
Better solutions:

• The manufacturer could provide stickers to be added (one for each package), indicating that the product may contain peanuts and that the allergen wasn't listed on the original packaging.
  • Stickers could be standardized across the industry. For example, for peanut allergens specifically, the sticker could be shaped like a peanut.
• The grocery store shelf could also provide a notice.
  • There could be an industry standard for this as well, a "manufacturer's notice" with a large "⚠" symbol.