According to data from the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira, a total of 134 food products were removed from circulation in 2013. Back in 2006, the number was a much lower 48.
Evira said that although annual food recalls did not allow for direct comparison, the trend towards higher market withdrawals was clear.
Last year’s peak was partly due to the horse meat scandal, in which horse meat was identified in certain meat products although it was not listed as an ingredient. Another case that led to many recalls involved beef of unknown origin imported from the Netherlands.
Both cases led to 19 instances in which products were pulled from store shelves. However Evira noted that even without these cases, the annual record would have been broken.
Another major case in which a food product was withdrawn from distribution involved frozen vegetables found to include the extremely toxic Datura, a member of the group of plants known colloquially as “witches’ weeds”, and which can cause delirium and death.
The most common reason for food recalls in 2013 was inadequate or insufficient packaging information. Otherwise foodstuffs were withdrawn because of the presence of salmonella -- which can cause food poisoning -- mould, plastic chips or even glass splinters.
“Recalls also happen for many minor reasons: not mentioning allergens, foreign objects, different microbiological reasons, foreign substances and so on. No bigger causes have been identified to cause these recalls,” explained Evira chief inspector Annika Nurttila.
More recalls likely in future
According to Evira there is no one single reason for the increase in the number of food items withdrawn from the market.
However officials believe that one major factor is been businesses stepping up their internal quality control processes, allowing them to catch mistakes earlier and more often.
Another explanation could be that more vigilance is being concentrated on areas where the risks appear to be greater. Consumers also have a lower threshold for reporting faulty products. Nurttila believes that these factors will inevitably lead to more recalls.
“When we take into consideration that risk will continue to increase, international trade is growing, business accountability and the desire to inform is on the rise, then all of these factors will lead to an increase,” Nurttila explained.
She noted however that this should not be cause for concern.
“I wouldn’t be worried, it’s more the case that the flow of information to consumers has increased,” she declared.
