Sainsbury’s has issued an urgent product recall for its Belgian milk chocolate product.
Some of the bars could contain metal fragments, so customers are being told to return the product to their nearest store to get a full refund.
The recall affects the 150g honeycomb pretzel bar with best before dates before the end of April.
Product recalls are a common occurrence, particularly for businesses selling food. But how do product recalls work and what impact do they have on small businesses?
What is a product recall?
A product recall is when a retailer or manufacturer asks customers to return a product they’ve bought due to an issue that’s been identified.
Recalls are often made by manufacturers, with retailers then required to return products they have in stock and notify customers to return products they’ve bought.
If you run a small business that sells manufactured goods, you may be required to do a product recall. Generally, you’d need to offer customers who bought the product a full refund, and claim back the cost from your manufacturer.
Why do product recalls happen?
A product recall could happen due to a health and safety risk within a product, a defect identified within the product, or an error on the labelling or packaging.
Recalls from retailers occur on a weekly basis. As well as the Sainsbury’s chocolate bar recall, some other recent warnings include:
- Ruffles crisps from UK supermarkets – unlabelled allergens
- Tesco ‘Free From’ meal kits – contain undeclared soya
- Lidl Sol and Mar Chicharricos Barbecue Pork Scratchings – potential salmonella risk
- Iceland vegetable lasagne – may contain pieces of plastic
- Asda Hapello sensory roller – high risk of choking
How are product recalls organised?
Product safety is regulated by the market surveillance authorities such as local trading standards and the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPPS). Other government agencies involved in product recalls include the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
If their investigations identify that a product is unsafe, it could be recalled. On top of this, a business may notify the authorities that there’s a problem with one of their products.
A product recall is then listed on the Product Safety Database. The retailer will then issue alerts to customers that may have been affected. Product recalls often get picked up by news outlets, which helps to spread the message.
What is the impact of product recall for small businesses?
As well as a potential health risk to customers in some cases, products that need recalling could have a range of implications for small businesses.
It can be costly to organise a product recall, from launching investigations to refunding customers.
There are also reputational risks as customers may be less likely to buy a particular product if they know it’s had issues in the past.
Should retail businesses have a product recall plan?
Businesses that could be at risk of needing to recall a product could benefit from having a product recall plan.
This could include:
- how you’d communicate a product recall
- steps you’d have in place to identify and remove the products from circulation
- how you’d budget for a product recall
- how you’d manage any reputational risk
- how you’d investigate what caused the problem that led to the recall
More useful guides for retailers
- Shoplifting: new laws propose stricter punishments to protect retailers
- How to start an online shop – the ultimate guide to selling online
- Royal Mail business prices 2025 – a small business guide
- GPSR – how does it affect your small business?
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