Lessons from a Food Company: How HACCP and ISO 22000 Saved Them from a Product Recall

Lessons from a Food Company: How HACCP and ISO 22000 Saved Them from a Product Recall

A well-known bakery in Gujarat had been growing fast. Their cakes and cookies were popular across multiple retail chains, but one small mistake almost cost them their reputation — and millions in losses.

The Problem

One morning, their quality team received a customer complaint: “There’s a small plastic piece inside the cookie packet.” Within hours, social media had picked up the story. The company immediately recalled the entire batch from distribution centers — an expensive and stressful process.

After initial investigation, they found the root cause — a broken part from a dough-mixing blade that went unnoticed during production. It wasn’t negligence; it was a lack of structured monitoring and verification in the process.

The Turning Point

Shaken by the incident, the management decided to implement ISO 22000:2018 and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) to strengthen their food safety system.

The implementation started with identifying potential hazards — physical, chemical, and biological — in every step of their process, from raw material receipt to packaging.

• They defined Critical Control Points (CCPs) for areas like metal detection, sieving, and packaging integrity.
• Maintenance records for all equipment became mandatory before every production run.
• They introduced traceability tags to link each batch with its raw material source.
• Daily HACCP verification logs were created to ensure monitoring actually happened.

The Outcome

Three months later, an external audit confirmed full compliance with ISO 22000 standards. But more importantly, the team noticed a visible change in culture — operators started reporting even minor irregularities, preventive maintenance became routine, and documentation ensured nothing was skipped.

The next time a similar issue arose — a suspected contamination — the company quickly traced the batch, verified its control points, and proved that the product was safe. No recall was needed.

That moment made the management realize the true power of ISO 22000 and HACCP: it’s not about certificates — it’s about protecting trust.

The Takeaway

Food safety isn’t just the responsibility of the quality department — it’s the foundation of a brand’s reputation. A single unsafe batch can destroy years of hard work.
By adopting HACCP and ISO 22000, this bakery didn’t just prevent contamination — they built a resilient, confident team that values hygiene, documentation, and customer safety above all else.