Total recall

Here is a story forwarded by the Food Safety Network at K-State about product recalls, and it highlights the fact that a recall is bad business. Brand Week says:

According to the survey, while 55% of people said they would switch brands temporarily in the case of a safety and health recall on a product they usually purchase, a full 15% said they never again purchase the recalled brand. Additionally, 21% of those polled said that they would avoid using any brand made by the manufacturer of the recalled product.

Later...

Peter Pan wasn't so fortunate. Of those polled, 42% correctly identified Peter Pan as the recalled brand, and 4% singled out Great Value (which was also a subject of the recall). But that didn't mean others didn't get dragged into the fire: 8% of respondents thought Jif brand peanut butter was the offender and 4% pointed their fingers at Skippy.

TK: No fresh produce examples in the story, and the proliferation of private labels for packaged produce also muddies the waters in terms of consumer impact. A general recall of a fresh produce commodity - as the spinach scenario demonstrated - is a catastrophe for all brands and growers.