Supermarkets fail to inform the public about food safety recalls, survey says
Most supermarkets fail to adequately inform the public about food safety recalls, according to a new survey of 26 major U.S. supermarket chains. The nonprofit U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) found that 84 percent of chains—including Albertsons, Walmart, Wegmans, and Whole Foods—did not provide any public description of their process for notifying customers when products are recalled.
While more than half the stores use email or phone notification programs to notify shoppers, only 8 had programs that clearly informed customers about how their systems work. No stores provided information about where physical recall notices would be posted. At a time when “foreign matter” recalls are on the rise, you’d think stores would be more eager to keep customers in the loop. But most stores declined to respond to the survey in the first place, and USPIRG was forced to take its data from company websites. Sounds like a sore subject.
