Because anything can happen between food production and delivery, food recalls can be quite common.
In a fast-paced city like Singapore, you need to ensure that your operations are as time-efficient as possible, keeping citizens safe and shelves clean.
Read on to find out how a fleet management system is the solution you need to make food recalls quick and effective.
Food is a very sensitive product that can be easily contaminated during the delivery and production process. While great efforts are taken to ensure food gets to its destination in its freshest state, it can be unsafe for consumption from time to time. This is where the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) comes in, being responsible for ensuring that affected food products do not stay on shelves and cause any damage to consumers' health and well-being.
Food recalls are actually more common than you think. Just two months ago, the SFA issued a recall on two ready-to-eat cured meat products for suspected salmonella contamination. In 2022, they also recalled batches of a popular Kinder Surprise chocolate egg that was linked to multiple cases of salmonella and Haagen-Dasz’s vanilla ice cream that contained trace amounts of ethylene oxide, causing sweet lovers to feel the pinch of not having their favourite ice cream.
About 90% of food in Singapore is imported, and these imports happen daily. While this makes the delivery of food products convenient, it also places them at risk of contamination. Food contamination can occur at any stage of the supply chain, making food recall an important part of keeping contaminated and unsafe food products away from consumers and ensuring there is no negative impact on the health and well-being of Singapore citizens.
The food industry is driven by mass production. And, while systems are in place to ensure that food remains safe for human consumption, things can still go wrong, leading to goods being recalled. Let’s look at the three most common reasons for food recalls:
So, what happens when food needs to be recalled? There are a few guidelines that need to be followed, known as a standard recall procedure (SRP), which help ensure food recalls are efficient. Let’s find out more about this.
When it comes to food recalls, there is a general procedure that must be followed. Let’s look at the standard recall procedure (SRP) for imported food products, which includes meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables, and processed foods.
Step 1: If it is a voluntary recall, inform SFA of the problem.
Step 2: Get all relevant information about the food product.
Step 3: Stop the sale and distribution of the food product.
Step 4: Inform all relevant business parties, including the public, retailers, and food industry organisations.
Step 5: Remove the product from shelves .
Sounds like five simple steps to follow, right? Unfortunately, like any process, they are accompanied by some challenges that can impact the overall efficiency of food recalls. The first step in overcoming them is to identify them.
Food recalling is a unique industry with equally unique challenges. These need to be tackled to guarantee a seamless approach to food recalls. Let’s explore these challenges, and the impact they have on the efficiency of your food recalls.
The first key to success in the food recall process is knowing the potential challenges. These challenges stack up like full shelves of goods, and if not handled, they can cause the entire food recall process to topple over. So what is the solution to these challenges?
You guessed it, it’s a fleet management system.
The food industry is a fast-paced world with millions of consumers. This makes safety a priority that a fleet management system can make easier to handle. Think of it as your digital base, helping you track all your fleet vehicles and key metrics relating to them (such as real-time location, driver behaviour, fuel consumption, and maintenance) with the tap of a button or screen. These data insights play a crucial role in speeding up your food recall operation and making it as efficient as possible. If you’re ready to put customer safety first while also keeping your fleet safe, then a fleet management system is just what the fleet doctor ordered. Let’s see exactly how it can help with food recalls.
A fleet management system is crucial in ensuring that food recalls are as fast-paced as the food industry itself. Here’s how it works:
One of a fleet management system’s greatest features is real-time tracking, helping you know where all your vehicles are at all times. Being able to do this takes the guessing game out of food recalls, as this helps you know exactly which vehicles are transporting contaminated stock. This information helps with routing, ensuring that your uncontaminated supply doesn’t come into contact with contaminated goods, which is costly and leads to unnecessary waste.
Food recalls are time-sensitive, so the last thing you want to experience is unplanned vehicle downtime. Unplanned vehicle downtime in this industry means goods aren’t recalled on time, increasing the risk of consumers unknowingly consuming the contaminated food.
A fleet management system can continuously monitor the health of your vehicles and their various components, such as engine or brake pad health. This information helps you schedule preventative maintenance, ensuring that maintenance issues are attended to before they become costly and potentially dangerous.
Communication is a vital part of any successful operation, especially time-sensitive ones. Fleet management enables real-time communication between fleet managers and drivers without either of them having to make a phone call. This means managers can quickly view and update information on the recall process based on driver availability and location.
A fleet management system is a food recall operation’s secret weapon to success and efficiency. This technology may sound a bit far-fetched, but it’s actually closer to home than you know. The solution you need is Cartrack.
Streamline your business today with our tech-savvy, one-stop solution. Cartrack’s fleet management solution brings you a wide range of technology to make your food recall business as efficient as possible:
Singapore is a fast-paced city where citizens are constantly on the move. Food recalls need to be streamlined to lessen the chances of contaminated items entering supermarkets or convenience stores and being grabbed by unsuspecting consumers.
Click here, and let’s make your food recall business fast and effective with Cartrack’s solutions.
The food recall industry is fast-paced, and without the right solutions, your business can get left behind. Discover how to speed up your operations.
