It is a requirement that a food business must keep a record of all foods that have been supplied to their premises and those businesses which they may have supplied foods to. In the event of a food safety concern, foods can therefore easily be recalled. Supplier invoices, delivery checks, for example, may be retained to trace foods back to suppliers, while customer names and batch numbers may be retained for traceability of foods supplied to another business.
Foods should be properly labelled at all times in a food premises to ensure product traceability. For any foods delivered in bulk requiring decanting, the labelling information from the outer packaging should be kept
The Health Regulations require food catering businesses to display the country of origin of beef on their premises. Traceability information relating to the country of origin must be kept by the food business operator.
Recall and traceability could be due to an issue involving the safety and suitability of a product. This may be the result, for example, of a packaging defect, a product formulation error, a manufacturing or storage problem or a problem with the food ingredients. It is important that food business operators are aware that food safety issues can arise with their products and therefore recognise that there is a need to plan ahead for tracing and recall.
Irish and European Union (EU) food law requires all food business operators to be able to trace the food they receive back to the immediate supplier of that food. Food business operators must be able to track the distribution of food, forward from their own business to their immediate customer. In addition, food business operators are required to withdraw unsafe food from the market where it has left their immediate control. If it has reached the consumer, inform consumers of the reason for the food being removed from the market and if necessary, recall the affected food from them. Therefore, food business operators should develop a documented food traceability system and food recall/withdrawal systems and integrate them into their 'food safety management' systems.
The Hygiene in Catering Sector I.S. 340:2007 states the following:
- The food business operator shall have a method of recalling or withdrawing product in the event of a potential food safety incident.
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) shall be informed of product recall.
- The traceability system in a food business should be reviewed annually and in the event of a recall to ensure that it was effective when used.