Product withdrawal and recall policy¹

11 Dec 2024

Aims and objectives

A plan and system must be in place to manage incidents effectively and enable the withdrawal and recall of products, should this be required.

Requirements

• If products released from a production site have been affected by an incident which compromises their safety, quality or legality, Wetherspoon must be notified at the first opportunity.
• The exact reason for the withdrawal or recall must be given over the phone and confirmed by e-mail. Adequate information must be provided in order to identify the affected product – or a complete withdrawal will be made.
• All uplift and recovery costs will be the responsibility of the supplier.
• Any stock held at the national distribution centre affected by the withdrawal or recall must be uplifted by the supplier at its own cost.
• Immediate steps must be taken to replace the affected stock.
• Suppliers must have a documented withdrawal and recall procedure which must contain up-to-date contact details.  This must be tested annually.
• Wetherspoon has a documented withdrawal and recall procedure for managing the process across the pub estate, to ensure the safety of staff and customers and to minimise the effect on the business.
• The supplier is responsible for notifying the BRC, within three working days, that a recall has taken place.

¹For the purposes of this policy, the BRC’s definitions of withdrawal and recall are used. A product withdrawal is a process which removes unsafe food from the supply chain before it reaches consumers. This is done to prevent potential harm to consumers. A product recall is a process which removes food from the supply chain after it reaches consumers.