Management of Product Recall Issue in Food Business

Management of Product Recall Issue in Food Business Running Head: The Case of Nutritional Foods INTRODUCTION With many companies experiencing issues when it comes to public relations need major assistance changing time to time. Some given products are prone to a major loss of consumer trust given their nature, and food products are undoubtedly topping the list. Some given products are prone to a major loss of consumer trust given their nature, and food products are undoubtedly topping the list. Expectations of consumers when it comes to issues pertaining food safety is high, and they can rebel against taking in a product which shows signs of not being safe. Such situation is as the one facing Nutritional Foods with reports arising from different County Health officials of a possible food poisoning crisis. The procedure the company takes in the fallout of a possible case of food poisoning can wholly determine where a company’s future is headed to. CASE OVERVIEW The Nutritional Foods Inc. is experiencing possibly one of the most hard to deal with crisis, a company in its stated sector of work might have actually faced. With the reports arising from different counties about the claims of a possible food poisoning of consumers, with little kids reportedly affected. The company mandated two mangers to go survey the first two counties in which the first cases were reported, with two more managers being sent to the other two counties were same cases arose. Much information was sought out by the company, with aims to determine the batch numbers of the supposed products with the problems. On the same day at 7pm, more problems were reported and the company resorted to pulling back all of the batches of the products in context, from consumers yet to consume them and also from retail shops yet to sell them. A crisis Action committee meeting was convened early the next morning and considerations about inputting more steps towards redemption were stated . ETHICAL DILEMMA/ISSUE Ethical issues are very common in the corporate sector. Fred, who was the owner of a highly respected fresh juice producer company that specializes in the production of nutritional foods found himself in the wrong side of law when the firm’s apple products were targeted with poisoning claims. If I was the company consultant at the time, I would have detailed knowledge of tackling issues revolving around non pasteurized products, product distribution process and how the company’s growth and success is dependent on acceptance by consumers. If was working there at the time, I would be proactive when handling such issues by devising contingency plan that would mitigate these dilemmas before they arise. If I was privileged to be CEO of this company, I would have enforced fundamental measures that would ensure there is integrity in all the standard operating procedures of the firm. If my firm and integrity were put on the spot, I would form a philosophy encouraging pro-active ness. If the allegations are confirmed, I would remove all products from the company storage for further investigations to determine the cause and call a press conference to discuss the issue at hand with the public. The public have to be made aware that the company is worried about everyone and it is not only focused on profitability. The company can depict ethics when it convinces everyone that it will maintain safety and health standards. If the company does not adhere to ethical practices to consolidate its market base, it will have a bad reputation of producing contaminated products and this may taint its image in future. ALTERNATIVES The company has issued a recall of the product that has been affected, but is depending on primarily on the media to get the information to the public. The company may possibly carry on with that technique, since it estimates that almost 80 percent of the newspapers contain the story, however it may not be smart to presume that the consumers will obtain news in that manner and that manner only. The company is required broad in distributing the information not limiting it to just newspapers. An additional matter that needs to be addressed is how the company should treat victims of the poisoning. The company may decide to give no reimbursement to victims willingly, however as an alternative wait until the source of the poisonings is determined and whether the company is going to be held legally responsible. Instead of making a public proclamation offering reimbursement to victims, Nutritional Foods could approach victims confidentially and propose to pay their medical bills, or facilit ate in any way required. This kind of help could be kept a secret from the journalists and media and contracts could be made with each victim so they know not to speak of it. RECOMMENDATIONS Nutritional Foods Inc. is to take action to relay information, involving the recall of the dispatched products through various channels of the media. With such measures, the company will be enhancing their nearly spoiled reputation and also make strides towards ensuring that many of its targeted consumers get this information about the recall of its products. This whole step towards recall will be based on the ethical principle standards which states that a good for many must always come first, and that the public disposal of information through the use of web pages will indicate clearly the company’s intention of not wanting to hide the information from the consumers, making this an important component of the Ethical behaviors in business (Manuel, 2008). When it will be publicly known that an existing organization will do whatever to its ability to ensure all of its customers are protected from matters or issues that arise concerning their products. On my recommendations towards compensation of the affected, I would urge Nutritional Foods Inc. to get in touch with the victims on a one to one basis and reach an agreement on how they will compensate them and also settle their medical bills. This given approach despite of who is responsible for food poisoning is the ethical of choice (Manuel, 2008). Consumers who in our case bought the unpasteurized products with total confidence in us, and as a company obtained a good rep of natural foods which are of quality to the public. Nutritional Foods Inc. should establish best how they will compensate the affected consumers who were part of the food poisoning crisis. Given it is a company on the rise, its chances of surviving is high if it takes the stated procedures and executes them well to avoid making it look messier. FUTURE IMPLICATIONS for RECOMMENDATION The company is poised to make a good image of its products, regaining the confidence it had bestowed on its base of consumers ensuring there’s no conflict of interest or hostility between them and the consumers. Other businesses in the same industry won’t try to take advantage of the situation at hand facing Nutritional Foods Inc. maintaining the healthy relation existing in the market. Other industries will stick to the good ethics of carrying out business and will follow suit in terms of conveying information to their consumer’s in-case of any errors made by them concerning their products. CONCLUSION The expectation of consumers is that the food they consume is safe, and furthermore those who buy the unprocessed organic foods anticipate elevated level of safety and health. Nutritional Foods has tackled this predicament well so far, but a lot more still needs to be done. The company must keep on performing and running in the prospect of the public, giving as a great deal of information as it can about the conditions and keeping everyone up to date as to the cause and what Nutritional Foods is doing about it. The company also needs to evaluate its internal processes to make sure that it has a working environment where moral behavior is expected and guaranteed. Reference Manuel, N. (2008). A framework for ethical decision-making. Available at  http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/framework.html. Accessed 17 February, 2014.