A Sticky Situation

A survey by the Harvard Opinion Research Program found that 93 percent of Americans were aware of the massive recall of peanut butter products linked to salmonella, but fewer than half knew that snack bars, cakes, brownies, ice cream and pet treats had been recalled.

One in four of those who were aware of the recalls mistakenly believed that major national brands should be avoided when, in fact, those brands were safe: tossing jars of Skippy in the trash was a pure waste of money.

As someone who buys a fair amount of peanut butter products, I’ve visited the FDA site to check the list of potentially affected products numerous times. Clif bars were there, so they got tossed; South Beach Diet Bars never showed up, so I kept tucking them into lunch bags.

I’ve read that several supermarkets made an effort to communicate the recall to consumers, and friends confirm having received calls from Costco and Whole Foods. Still, despite the fact that I shop at some large chains and regularly use a loyalty card, I had to fend for myself. I’d be willing to bet that I’m not the only one who fell through the cracks.

I recently spoke with Ken Dixon, executive vice president for MIR3, which provides two-way intelligent notification technology to large retailers. Dixon says it’s possible to broadcast one million e-mail notices in minutes or notify a million shoppers by phone in a matter of hours. Of course, all of this is dependent on up-to-date shopper loyalty data. I can’t recall the last time a retailer asked me to update my contact data — can you?

Knowing there is a technology out there that could save lives, it’s frustrating that more retailers have not embraced it. I’ll concede that investing in this technology might be difficult to nearly impossible given the current economic environment. Still, I don’t recall seeing even a single notification in a supermarket that provided specifics on the products that were recalled. Placing a sign in the peanut butter aisle is a simple, low-cost solution that could have gone a long way.

Dixon believes that the peanut butter recall is just the tip of the iceberg: It’s just a matter of time, he says, before some terrorist group tries to taint our water or grain supplies — a development that would have far greater implications than the peanut butter scare.

Sadly, as Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, recently commented, “to say that food safety in this country is a patchwork system is giving it too much credit.”

As a mom, a consumer advocate and a passionate industry observer, I urge retailers to take the lead on food recalls and to do whatever makes sense in their respective environments to alert shoppers to potential problems and to keep them informed.