MS Food Safety CONSULTING

Toolkit

The Food Recall Toolkit

Ten records for the day you hope never comes. Three to complete now, while nothing is wrong. Seven to open on the day. A written recall system is a requirement of the Food Standards Code for wholesale suppliers, importers and manufacturers — and nearly every customer and certification standard asks for one too.

  • Ten records, each on its own sheet
  • Recall team and external contacts, with after-hours numbers
  • A mock recall sheet that reconciles mass balance and times you
  • A contemporaneous notification log for the questions afterwards
  • Editable Excel — yours to adapt, no licence conditions
$99plus GST

One payment. No subscription.

Request the toolkit

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The ten records

Three before anything happens, five on the day, two afterwards.

Recall team and contactsWho does what, with mobile and after-hours numbers, deputies, and a date each was last verified.
External contactsRegulator, council, customers, laboratory, insurer and certification body — filled in before you need them.
Readiness checklistProcedure current, contacts verified, distribution list live, mock recall done in the last twelve months.
Mock recall exerciseScenario, quantities, mass balance, timings, and the gaps it exposed.
Incident decision recordThe assessment behind withdrawal, recall or no action — including the reasoning when it's no action.
Distribution traceWhere every unit went, including samples, donations and staff purchases.
Notification logWho was told, when, by whom, what was said, and what they instructed.
Recovery and reconciliationDistributed against recovered against consumed, with the unaccounted explained.
Disposal recordMethod, contractor, docket number, authorised by and witnessed by.
Post-incident reviewWhat worked, what didn't, root cause, and the actions that follow.

Why these ten

Preparation decides how a recall goes. Not the procedure.

The contact who left eighteen months ago

The most common failure in a real recall isn't the procedure — it's a phone number that doesn't work. Both contact sheets carry a "last verified" date for exactly that reason.

Record the reasoning even when it's no action

Especially then. The decision record captures the assessment and who made it, because "we looked at it and decided it was fine" is not a defensible position six months later.

Samples and staff purchases are the missing units

They're the ones nobody logs and nobody can account for. The distribution trace prompts for them, because they're what turns 100% into 98%.

Write the log as it happens

Not afterwards from memory. The notification log is the document that shows you met your obligations and timeframes, and it's the first thing an investigator asks for.

A mock recall you passed easily wasn't a test

Vary the scenario each year — allergen, foreign matter, microbiological, packaging. Each tests a different part of the system, and the output that matters is the gap list.

A review that finds nothing wrong found nothing

Hold it within two weeks while people remember, and be honest. If nobody raises a problem, nobody felt able to.

What this toolkit is not

This is a set of records, not a recall plan and not legal advice. Recall obligations in Australia are set by the Food Standards Code and administered by FSANZ, with state and territory enforcement agencies involved. Read the current FSANZ Food Industry Recall Protocol and your own licence conditions, and write a recall procedure specific to your business — these records support it, they don't replace it.

If you'd rather the procedure itself was written for your business, that's the consulting side of what I do.

If you need the program itself built around what you actually do, that's the consulting side of what I do.

Questions

What format is it?

A single Excel workbook, ten sheets plus a cover. It opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets. Everything is editable — change the columns, the frequencies, the wording, whatever suits your operation.

Can I use it across more than one site?

Yes. One purchase covers your business, however many sites you run. What it doesn't cover is reselling it or passing it to another business.

Is this a recall plan?

No. It's the records a recall plan needs. Your procedure — who decides, how product is identified, how notification happens — has to be written for your own business and your own distribution. These are what you fill in when you follow it.

How do I pay?

Fill in the form and I'll email a tax invoice with bank details. The toolkit comes back as soon as payment clears — usually the same day.

When should I fill it in?

The first three sheets today, while nothing is wrong — team, external contacts and readiness checklist. Then run a mock recall. The other six are the ones you open on the day, and by then it's too late to be gathering phone numbers.

What if it isn't what I expected?

Tell me within fourteen days and I'll refund it. I'd rather that than have you feel stung by a $99 spreadsheet.