This week we have heard of a number of people contracting Hepatitis A from contaminated imported frozen raspberries.

The berries were grown, washed and packaged in China and it appears that unhygienic work practices and /or contaminated water used to wash the fruit is to blame for the contamination.

Apart from providing a compelling reason for supporting our local growers and reducing food miles by  buying locally grown, fresh and in -season produce, it also illustrates some of the problems that can  arise  throughout the supply chain when controls are either lacking or are substandard.

Business concerns

For the Chinese processor and supplier undoubtedly relations with its customers, maintaining ongoing contracts and negotiating future contracts will be at the forefront of their concerns having now acquired a reputation of supplying contaminated food.  To convince their distributors and buyers, particularly to countries with strict food and safety laws, that their product is safe will require an overhaul of their staff and operational processes.

The Australian distributor has also suffered reputational damage, will suffer financial loss in recalling product and refunding purchasers and staff and management are taking considerable time out of the business to, among other things:

• liaise with the health department
• issue and process the recall
• manage customers’ calls, concerns and complaints
• trace the source of the contaminated product
• deal with suppliers

But, at the end of the day will their customers trust the brand again?

Managing the risk

This could have been avoided if the processor had good compliance systems in place to ensure that the processing and handling of the product met acceptable standards.  A good compliance program would include:

• an assessment of the risks in the business, for example water quality, worker health and hygeine
• processes to prioritise and  treat the risks
• a system that enabled the management to be sure that standards and the requirements of laws and their customers were being met
• an awareness and training program to educate the factory workers, in this case, on safe and hygienic food handling and processing
• a quality assessment process to test product to ensure it met the standards required, including that it was uncontaminated.

The importer/ distributor could have saved itself if it had their own checks and systems in place to satisfy itself that the product being imported was safe, met all legal requirements required and the expectations of Australian consumers.

A good compliance system can make it easier to find the near misses before they become incidents and breaches regardless of whether a company is selling frozen raspberries or health insurance.