Dedicated Labelling Centre of Excellence looks to reduce food recalls

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

Bengaluru, November 27, 2015: Intertek, a leading global quality solutions provider to industries worldwide, announcedits 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 a2014poll [1] , 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 effectivefood safety management programme in place such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP).

Dorottya Karako, Centre of Excellence Process Leaderat 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.Karakocontinues “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.”

Intertekofferslabel 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 yearsof experience dealing with label validation and nutritional testing across a wide range of products,including confectionary products, convenience foodand canned food, among others. The Centre of Excellence is aimed at assessing each product according to the local and regional regulations, and providing the labellinginformation which needs to be applied in the local language.

Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)