Recall event timing: Measures of managerial performance in U.S. meat and poultry plants

Abstract

This study investigates the performance of meat and poultry plant managers in discovering and responding effectively to food safety problems that lead to product recalls. Timing is used as a performance measure of managers' response to recalls of food, using survival distributions of times between production and recall, and recall case duration. The objectives are to understand how these time periods vary across plants and to determine factors explaining such variability. Survival distributions are estimated using the Kaplan-Meier and life table methods. Subgroups of the population are compared using plots of the estimated survival functions and statistically compared using log-rank and Wilcoxon tests. Managers at large plants, in multi-plant firms, and at plants with prior recall experience do not perform better. Cox regressions indicate that government agency sampling programs enhanced the speed of discovery, and that national distribution networks contributed to the risk that cases remained open for a longer period. [EconLit citations: D210, Q180.] © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 21: 351-373, 2005.

Joint product management strategies for E. coli O157 and feedlot profits

“…Currently, beef processors bear costs of E. coli O157 outbreaks by taking measures to avoid them and by recalling beef when they occur Teratanavat et al, 2005). As implementation of enhanced food safety regulations potentially shift responsibility of ensuring safety of the food supply from a government based agency onto firms and producers, a portion of the costs of E. coli O157 outbreaks is likely to shift to feedlots in the future (or further upstream to producers).…”

“…Throughout the last decade, public concern regarding food-borne diseases has increased significantly (Piggot and Marsh, 2004;Marsh et al, 2004;Teratanavat et al, 2005). A leading cause for this trend has been outbreaks of human illnesses that have been tied to food-borne pathogens.…”

The Economic Efficiency of Sampling Size: The Case of Beef Trim

“…We assume that ground beef has a value on the cook‐only market value of 50¢ per 100‐g (3.6 ounce) serving (or approximately $2 per pound) . However, disaggregating the direct costs of a recall in terms of expenses related immediately to the recall from indirect liability costs and loss of consumer goodwill is challenging because of the timing and duration of recall effects and because most recalls observed by researchers are large with disproportionately higher indirect costs . We assume that the direct costs of recalling a serving of ground beef in terms of labor costs of removing it from the shelf, shipping it to suppliers, and disposing of it, in addition to the loss of its cook‐only value, is approximately 10 times its cook‐only value alone.…”

Cooperation for competition

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