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Surge in food recalls last year

ID:8610340

There were a hundred food recalls reported in 2018, according to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).

The organisation released its latest research on Australian food recalls in 2018, including new information on the causes of allergen labelling-related recalls.

FSANZ CEO Mark Booth said there was an increase in food recalls in 2018, up from 69 in 2017, with 46 per cent of these due to undeclared allergens, followed by microbial contamination (20%).

“These results demonstrate that food businesses in Australia need to be across the mandatory allergen labelling requirements in the Food Standards Code. FSANZ has identified four key causes of allergen-related recalls, including lack of skills and knowledge of labelling requirements, supplier verification, packaging errors and accidental cross contamination. Correct allergen labelling can mean the difference between life and death for people with food allergies, so it is vital that food businesses meet labelling requirements,” Booth said.

In the last three years, customer complaints were the most common method of detecting the need to recall food followed by routine testing by the company and then routine government testing. Detection by customer complaints and routine testing by the company has increased since 2016 and detection by government testing has decreased.

Booth said FSANZ and enforcement agencies are continuing to work with food businesses to ensure the importance of food labelling requirements.

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