Dedicated Labelling Centre of Excellence looks to reduce food recalls

05 Nov 2015

Intertek supports the food industry to reduce food recalls with a dedicated Food Labelling Centre of Excellence

Intertek, a leading global quality solutions provider to industries worldwide, announced its commitment to reducing food recalls through its global Labelling Centre of Excellence.

One of the biggest risks companies face is the risk to their reputation. This can be particularly important in the event of a food product recall.  Consumers regularly come into contact with a variety of new and exciting food products on the marketplace and if a recall occurs, issues of brand loyalty can have an immense impact on the profitability of a business. According to a 2014 poll,   the impact of food recalls can affect consumer behaviour, they identified  55% of consumers would temporarily purchase another brand, 16% of consumers would never purchase the recalled brand again, 17% would avoid using any brand made by the manufacturer and the remaining 12% could not decide.

One of the key solutions to risk aversion can be the compliant labelling of products. In the USA the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) have reported that 121 recalls have been issued in 2015 so far equating to 19.4 million units involving 114 manufactures with 95% of the recalled units due to undeclared allergens. A high percentage of these could be prevented with correct labelling of products and effective food safety management programme in place such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP).

Dorottya Karako, Centre of Excellence Process Leader at Intertek commented, “Compliant food labelling is critical to the food industry and through Intertek’s Centre of Excellence we coordinate more than 80 operational offices around the world, helping local and international companies comply with applicable legislations and avoid costly recalls.  Karako continues “Intertek’s Food Centre of Excellence offers a central office of expertise aimed at optimising the label validation process and giving compliance to market regulatory requirements in order for businesses to sell their products in multiple countries. The Centre’s objective is to facilitate the entry of food products into new markets and ensure that their labelling complies with local and international legislations.”

Intertek offers label validation from Asia Pacific, European, Middle Eastern, African, Latin American and North American regions, responding to the differing food labelling laws and managed through two operational management hubs in France and Germany.
 
Together the business has more than 10 years of experience dealing with label validation and nutritional testing across a wide range of products, including confectionary products, convenience food and canned food, among others. The Centre of Excellence is aimed at assessing each product according to the local and regional regulations, and providing the labelling information which needs to be applied in the local language.

Contacts:
Technical Contact
Dorottya Karako, Centre of Excellence Process Leader
Email: dorottya.karako@intertek.com

Marketing Contact
Natalie Harvey, Food Services Global Marketing Manager
Email: Natalie.harvey@intertek.com

About Intertek
Intertek is a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide. From auditing and inspection, to testing, training, advisory, quality assurance and certification, Intertek adds value for its customers by helping improve the quality and safety of their products, assets and processes. With a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 38,000 people in more than 100 countries, Intertek supports companies’ success in the global marketplace, by helping customers to meet end users’ expectations for safety, sustainability, performance, integrity and desirability in virtually any market worldwide. Visit www.intertek.com