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A QA manager overlooked poor hygiene conditions. Now he is not only out of his job but is facing a lawsuit in the USA. The negligence not only led to the recall of "Honey Smacks" cereals, but also to 130 people falling ill with salmonellosis.
The director of quality assurance for a cereal manufacturer oversaw hygiene programmes at several production facilities, including a plant in Gridley (IL, USA) that produced the affected "Honey Smacks" for a well-known brand name manufacturer. He admitted in court that between 2016 and 2018 he had instructed employees not to report certain information about the condition of the plant to the client. Control elements at the plant were also supposed to have been changed in such a way that the hygiene deficiencies could not be detected.
US FDA and the Centre for Disease Control investigated the cause of the spike in salmonellosis cases. The brand manufacturer then recalled all batches that might have been affected. The trial against the responsible manager ended in October 2022 with his guilty plea. He now faces sentencing in January for introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce in the US.
What are the lessons learned? Cover-ups don't work. Salmonella in the production plant is a sign of a massive hygiene problem that must be investigated immediately with the utmost attention. The management must be involved in solving the problem
YOUR PLUS: In such crises you need a competent and independent partner. AGROLAB laboratories are not only the right address for continuous microbiological production and hygiene controls, but they also have the necessary know-how and state-of-the-art technology to quickly and safely identify pathogenic germs and find possible sources of entry via step controls.
Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger
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