Most companies have some semblance of a formal written Recall Plan somewhere in the bowels of their food safety files. In turn, in most companies, the food safety team will pull the written Recall Plan and conduct a “mock recall exercise” at least once each year. Usually, these exercise are less of a realistic “mock recall training exercise,” and more of a simple rote “traceability exercise.”

Which is fine, if the company is merely looking to simply “check a box” for its annual GFSI certification. Training for a potential (albeit fictional) real-world scenario, however, is far more rare.

Indeed, very few companies will routinely schedule and execute mock recall exercises based upon the company’s real-world risks and likely exposures. Even fewer companies will schedule time to include the C-Suite to perform these exercises. It is, hands-down, a drastically different dynamic when the C-Suite is in the boardroom, hearing for the first time about the initial notice from USDA or FDA that there may be a problem with the company’s products. This initial notification typically includes assessing imperfect initial information, composing relevant questions for CDC, developing potential management strategies, and then executing those strategies to completion.

Because few companies perform these high-level mock recall exercises, many companies find themselves extremely ill-prepared when the telephone call comes from USDA or FDA stating that there may be an association between a company’s products and an emerging outbreak. I know I don’t have to say it, but usually these calls come in at 4:30 p.m. on a Friday before a holiday weekend.

Rather than introducing your company leadership to the hot seat of having to navigate an emerging outbreak (and, by extension, recall scenario) in the midst of battle, when the CDC and USDA or FDA are breathing down the company’s neck, it is far better to run through those real-world mock scenarios long before they actually occur.

So, give some strong consideration into scheduling these training scenarios for your company leadership. Challenge them to the extreme, forcing them to make difficult decisions with limited information, and then see if they did it “right” or “wrong.” We develop these exercises for our clients routinely, and I can attest first hand that they are some of the most valuable exercises corporate leadership can participate in. This will also give you an opportunity to talk openly about the consequences of decisions made in the mock outbreak/recall scenario, and potential Park Doctrine (criminal) liability if the decisions are incorrect.

In every scenario we have coached, the company leadership has been stunned by the value of what they experienced and learned. So, consider strongly developing more then a simple rote traceability exercise this year. Consider going all out, and introducing your C-Suite to a real-world, fictional scenario which will seriously (but fairly) challenge their core food safety decision making skills to protect the brand.

If you do, when that frightening day comes (and, it will), your leadership team will be fully prepared to navigate an actual real-world scenario, and land in the right place to protect the company and brand.

So, be sure to rock the mock — and take pride that you and your company leadership will be prepared, when USDA or FDA come knocking, to lead the way.

Rock the Mock: Preparing for Real World Recall Scenarios

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