13 Key Tips to Prevent a Product Recall

No business looks forward to recalling a product. But when safety issues arise, companies must act quickly to protect customers, notify stakeholders, and coordinate retrieval and replacement efforts. These actions can strain operations, hurt revenue, and leave lasting effects on brand reputation—especially for smaller businesses that lack the staff and systems required to handle unexpected setbacks.

Fortunately, many product recalls can be prevented with robust safety protocols, quality control measures, and monitoring technology.

What Is a Product Recall?

A product recall occurs when a manufacturer or distributor removes goods from the market due to defects, safety concerns, or regulatory noncompliance. Recalls can be voluntary or mandated and typically involve retrieving, replacing, or refunding affected products.

How to Prevent a Product Recall: 13 Tips

Recalls are costly in terms of both resources and reputation, yet they are increasingly common. According to US Food and Drug Administration data, 6,524 products were recalled in fiscal 2024, the highest level since fiscal 2020. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported increases over the same period. This trend is seen across other industries, with the most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data showing that total vehicle recalls in 2023 affected the largest population since 2020.

To help mitigate these risks, businesses can prioritize proactive prevention strategies, such as strengthening quality control, consulting external experts, and modernizing technology. The following tips can help companies identify and address potential issues before a recall becomes necessary.

1. Establish a product safety team: Assemble a cross-functional team with representatives from multiple departments, including quality control, engineering, logistics, legal, and public relations. This group should meet regularly to review safety concerns, evaluate quality control data, track industry trends, and develop preventive strategies. Diverse expertise lets businesses identify potential risks from multiple perspectives and implement proactive solutions that a single department or decision-maker might overlook.
2. Review insurance coverage: Invest in recall insurance to cover both direct recall costs (for example, product retrieval and replacement) and related expenses, such as customer notifications, public relations, and business disruption. As product lines and risks evolve, businesses—especially small ones with limited cash reserves—should regularly review policies with insurers to ensure adequate protection.
3. Monitor supplier quality: Evaluate incoming materials and audit supplier quality control processes to verify compliance with internal standards and external regulations. This should include conducting quality checks during procurement, reviewing suppliers’ testing procedures and safety certifications, and comparing results to clearly established benchmarks. Regular supplier audits and documented performance analyses can help companies prevent supply chain issues and money wasted on flawed materials.
4. Implement rigorous testing protocols: Testing should cover every stage of product development, from material procurement to final assembly and packaging. Protocols that outline specific acceptance criteria, testing frequency, and documentation requirements should be accessible to all relevant staff. Regular reviews can help stop issues from falling through the cracks while allowing teams to adapt protocols for new products, manufacturing processes, and compliance needs.
5. Institute strict quality control measures: Implement clear checkpoints throughout manufacturing to find root causes and apply targeted fixes. Establish detailed inspection procedures, set acceptance criteria at each stage of production, and outline specific corrective actions to take if deviations occur. This type of regular process analysis can help quality control teams identify trends and prevent problems before they affect product quality and safety.
6. Maintain detailed documentation: Use record-keeping systems to track every shipment and delivery and to clearly label any outliers or complications. Key records should include supplier certifications, testing results, quality control data, and employee training logs, with any deviations from standard procedures visibly highlighted. Digital documentation tools can help companies stay organized, easily access and search documentation, flag discrepancies, and uphold ongoing proof of compliance.
7. Implement batch tracking systems: Use batch tracking systems to trace materials and products throughout manufacturing and distribution. Often integrated with inventory management software, these systems record raw materials, production dates, quality test results, and shipping destinations for each batch. This facilitates quick identification of affected products to prevent unnecessary full recalls. Businesses can also use this information to limit the recall’s scope and notify only impacted customers to minimize disruption. For instance, if a single batch of hummus contains contaminated garlic, the company can recall just the affected items instead of pulling all products from shelves.
8. Clearly label products: Labels must accurately communicate essential information, including ingredients, warnings, usage instructions, and traceability details, such as lot numbers or batch codes, factory or country of origin, and production dates or expiration dates. Companies should regularly review and update labeling to remain compliant with evolving regulations, especially when selling across states or countries with specific labeling requirements. Clear, accurate labeling helps consumers use products safely and provides critical tracking information if safety concerns arise.
9. Train staff on safety protocols: All employees—from managers and supervisors to frontline staff—need thorough training on safety, quality standards, and proper product and material handling procedures. Training programs should cover documentation, equipment operation, safety checks, and emergency response protocols specific to each role. After the initial training, ongoing refresher courses can help address weak areas, reinforce safety measures, and help staff adapt to new procedures.
10. Confirm regulatory compliance: Stay current with changing regulations across all jurisdictions where business occurs. Conduct regular internal audits, compare processes against industry standards, and immediately update all relevant aspects of operations and verify compliance when regulations change. To stay ahead of upcoming changes and minimize the risks of noncompliance, companies may consider using cloud-based regulatory compliance software solutions that automatically monitor and flag regulatory updates. It’s also wise to maintain strong relationships with industry associations and expert consultants, as they can provide invaluable guidance.
11. Set up early warning systems and feedback channels: Real-time detection systems can be integrated within enterprise resource planning or quality management systems to provide a comprehensive source of useful data. For example, production monitoring systems, quality control monitoring systems, and customer relationship management systems can consolidate customer feedback, quality metrics, supply chain audits, and machine performance into one centralized hub. These tools can automatically flag potential issues and trigger alerts to relevant stakeholders so teams can take proactive action before small concerns escalate.
12. Conduct regular risk assessments: Take a holistic approach to evaluating product development, manufacturing, and distribution. Assess both internal factors (for example, production processes and training effectiveness) and external factors (for example, supplier reliability and changing market conditions). Product safety teams can use these insights to adjust strategies, allocate resources, and prioritize vulnerabilities.
13. Maintain clear communication channels: Seamless communication channels across departments, suppliers, regulators, and customers make it easier to swiftly share critical information about potential safety issues and consumer concerns. Regular cross-departmental safety reviews, automated quality control checkpoints, and feedback monitoring can detect issues early, while clear reporting protocols make it easier for employees to escalate concerns efficiently.

Effectively Manage Product Recalls with NetSuite

Preventing product recalls requires precise control over inventory and production processes across complex supply chains. To meet this challenge, NetSuite Inventory Management automates critical tracking processes, from procurement to delivery. Companies can use the cloud-based solution to maintain and access detailed records of all products and quality control processes from anywhere, anytime.

NetSuite’s lot and serial number tracking features monitor materials from procurement through production and distribution, letting businesses quickly identify and trace defective goods and facilitate efficient recall management when needed. Additionally, NetSuite Inventory Management integrates with software for accounting, customers, orders, and supply chain management, giving decision-makers the comprehensive insights they need to better manage operations and respond to future challenges.

Product recalls can hurt a company’s market position, customer relationships, and bottom line. By implementing proactive strategies—including comprehensive quality control, batch and lot tracking technology, supplier monitoring, and thorough documentation—businesses can address potential defects and safety issues before they lead to recalls. Although not every recall is avoidable, companies that prioritize prevention efforts can better protect their customers and safeguard their long-term reputations.

Product Recall Prevention FAQs

What is the most common cause of product recalls?

The most common cause of product recalls varies by industry but often includes manufacturing defects and quality control failures, safety hazards and design flaws, labeling errors and regulatory noncompliance, packaging defects, contamination, and undeclared ingredients or allergens.

How can businesses manage product recalls effectively?

Effective recall management requires a systematic, well-documented approach that includes

• Identifying affected products via batch tracking and quality control data
• Implementing predetermined recall protocols, including notifying regulatory agencies, distribution partners, and customers
• Retrieving, replacing, and disposing of affected products as needed
• Maintaining detailed records to verify compliance with regulations and insurance requirements