One of our moderators, Sterling Crew, talks to us ahead of Food Integrity 2022 about the schemes that changed everything and the lessons that may be drawn from the UK Salmonella egg issue. Attend his trust-building course in March!
if there are many instances of excellent practises in the food industry, we regrettably mostly hear about blunders, even if the food in the UK is among the safest in the world.
When anything does go wrong, we may have a crisis and need to remove products from store shelves. As recent events have shown, food-related mishaps and withdrawals can occur even in the most reputable and well-managed companies and brands. It is now imperative for operators of food businesses to lower their risk of becoming embroiled in a crisis and to lessen the harm that might ensue.
What catastrophe, exactly?
An efficient crisis management system helps a company to increase its ability to protect food and boost customer confidence. Examples of recent events that have posed firms with unanticipated and unusual obstacles include COVID-19 and Brexit; in these cases, having such procedures in place has been invaluable.
Businesses frequently deal with event difficulties, but the scope of what we have witnessed in the previous several years is unparalleled. In actuality, the majority of organizations prioritize more frequent, immediate dangers and opportunities. It is true that we must acknowledge that we live in a time with increasingly complicated and varied issues.
Any occurrence that has the potential—or is thought to have the potential—to seriously hurt a person, impair an organization’s reputation, or have an adverse effect on its financial situation is considered a crisis. Companies ought to have a crisis strategy in place before a problem arises. On today’s social media channels, bad news spreads quickly, so businesses need to be ready to respond.
A contemporary crisis management system is an organized approach that can be used to handle crises involving food. Tools and procedures for managing crises are widely accessible and quite simple. In the UK, BS11200 offers a helpful starting point for comprehending concepts and nomenclature associated with major strategic risks. In order to provide themes and important areas for developing or improving crisis management capabilities, this standard summarizes the fundamental components of crisis management. It includes fundamental ideas and concepts, crisis management and judgment, and crisis communications—an area that is frequently disregarded.
Crisis management plans must to be periodically updated, stress-tested, and incorporate a simulated withdrawal at the very least once a year. While adhering to prearranged strategies, the skilled incident management team must also be flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions.
Learnings
The terrible Salmonella egg outbreak of the late 1980s and early 1990s serves as an example of how to effectively manage a crisis and how consumer trust may be restored. When Salmonella was discovered in eggs in 1988, egg sales fell by sixty percent. Along with the 400 million eggs that were destroyed and the four million hens that were put down, public confidence crumbled.
The government then issued a number of advisories cautioning susceptible populations—pregnant women, small children, and the elderly—not to eat raw or runny eggs. Fear was heightened by a statement made by Edwina Currie, the junior conservative health minister at the time, who said, “Sadly, Salmonella is now affecting most of the egg production in this country.” She
Salmonella has drastically decreased in UK eggs thanks to the British Lion Quality Code of Practice, which was implemented in 1998 to handle this situation. Currently producing 90% of UK eggs, it is likely one of the most successful food safety programs in the country.
Since the program’s launch, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has also attested to the safety of vulnerable populations eating runny or even raw eggs produced under the program.
The egg business responded quickly, outlining the situation, emphasizing the importance of food safety, and providing precise recommendations. The secret to its success was telling the public about the alterations that had been made through a public information campaign that included executions like “Mum, why is my egg adorned with a lion?” The coordinated group response exemplifies optimal practices for crisis communication. A major plus was having a proactive trade association to represent the industry; it gave everyone a voice and a platform to effectively develop trust. This case study also emphasized the need of certainty, sticking to the facts, and being transparent about both what you know and don’t know.
The egg industry proved that swift response is necessary in any crisis by promptly informing the public that, as long as the eggs were cooked, they were completely safe to consume. But in this instance, significant harm had already been done, so the egg industry needed to change into one that was significantly more resilient and flexible. The first significant food catastrophe affecting the entire sector occurred due to Salmonella contamination in eggs, and the industry’s reaction, which included the British Lion plan, is still a model for other industries facing similar crises.
Individuals’ readiness for a crisis
One should never undervalue the importance of human behavior in crisis management initiatives. By definition, crises are uncommon occurrences, and many firms may be lucky enough never to face one. I handled a lot of withdrawals throughout my time working in retail; they were an unpleasant recurring event brought on by having so many different things on the shelf. We developed a robust, well-proven crisis management strategy as a result of my growing accustomedness to the procedure.
How unprepared certain suppliers were always shocked me; many businesses suffered from an optimistic bias, believing that “it will not happen to our organization,” or from an illusion of control, believing that “we know what we’re doing, nothing has gone wrong in the past.” Additionally, there was a conflicting attitude that said, “There are more important immediate matters to be attended to.” Their actions indicated that they had not made enough investments in crisis management and were frequently unprepared for a crisis.
Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese character for “crisis” combines the phrases “danger” and “opportunity.” Nevertheless, this illustrates the importance of looking for possibilities when faced with a crisis. Certain organizations have incorporated the results of a catastrophe into their ongoing