Handling a food safety incident: first steps and communication
What to do first in a food safety incident, how to communicate internally and with regulators and customers, and how to investigate.
When something goes wrong, calm and clear communication makes the biggest difference. Our trainers' advice:
Q: What's the first step?
Protect consumers. Assess the situation quickly and contain the hazard: isolate affected product, stop production or distribution if needed. A calm, structured approach works: stop, assess, communicate, act. BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 section 3.11 requires an incident procedure, and your certification body must be told within 3 working days of a decision to recall.
Q: How should we communicate?
Internally: "clear facts first". What we know, what we don't know yet, and who is doing what. A short briefing (an email, for example) stops rumours and keeps everyone on the same priorities.
Externally: inform regulators or the local authority where required, and suppliers, distributors and retailers who need to act. Be transparent early without speculating: share only verified information and the immediate controls taken (product on hold, traceability check, initial risk assessment). Keep updating, even if updates are small. People lose confidence when they feel something is being hidden.
If consumers need to know, use public channels or recall notices, and say clearly what they should do.
Q: How should we investigate and document an incident?
- Record date, time, location and equipment involved; take photos or samples where relevant.
- Find the root cause with the 5 Whys or a fishbone diagram, involving the team. Human error is not a root cause.
- Put corrective actions in place, document them and follow them up.
- Review incidents regularly for trends and share what you learned. Our BRCGS Root Cause Analysis course covers the 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams and other methods.
Q: Why does root cause analysis matter for BRCGS?
It shows you're not just fixing symptoms but finding out why things happened, so they don't recur. That's what auditors expect to see, and it supports continuous improvement and a stronger culture. Use the 5 Whys for simple issues and a fishbone diagram for complex ones.
Q: What's the biggest lesson?
Don't wait for a real incident to test your system. Accurate, up-to-date traceability records save hours. Mock recalls, internal audits and scenario practice mean the team knows what to do when it happens for real. Issue 9 clause 3.11.3 requires the incident and recall procedures to be tested at least once a year.
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Reviewed by Chisala Ngandwe, Technical Manager & Trainer, STC · November 2026
These Q&As share general best practice from our trainers and auditors. They aren't consultancy advice for your site. For support specific to your site and systems, we can refer you to our sister company QTC.
Learn more: Root Cause Analysis, Advanced RCA, Incident and Crisis Management and our article on mock recalls. For incident support, contact QTC.