Up the chain

Retailers may have even more motivation to insist on due diligence from their suppliers. This report from the Detroit Free Press begins:

When food is recalled, U.S. consumers get a lot of information to help them learn whether they have the potentially dangerous product.
They're told the product name, how it's packaged, if it has an identifying code and the states or regions in which it was sold. They may even see a product photo. What they usually aren't told is where it was sold.

The story explains that may change in view of a proposal from USDA and a new law in California that would result in the naming of retailers involved in a meat recall.

Continuing the story:

That may soon change, given a new law in California and a national proposal that reflects new thinking on the part of meat and poultry regulators but is staunchly opposed by meat processors and food retailers.
The California law, effective July 1, will authorize health officials in that state to inform consumers which retailers sold meat and poultry covered by the most serious recalls.
The national proposal comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which wants to post retailer names and store locations on its Web site for all meat and poultry recalls. The agency expects to finalize its plans by year's end. If it follows through, it will break ranks with the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees other food recalls. The FDA has no plans to release retailer names, as it considers them confidential, spokesman Michael Herndon said.


TK: Again, this only applies to meat products. I think it makes sense because of those cases where a supermarket may have a private label brand that is tainted. Retailers and meat processors argue that it may make recalls less effective because of the lag in time between the recall and the reporting of which retailers sold the product.