Product recalls & Withdrawals

If you need to submit a product recall or withdrawal it's

important to follow the process below.

Please also refer to the Product Recall & withdrawals guide.

wHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RECALL/WITHDRAWAL?

CO-OP OWN-BRAND RECALLS/WITHDRAWALS

You must notify your Co-op Technical contact of the issue and in collaboration with your Co-op Technical contact, complete the Product Action Notification (PAN) Form.

It'll be the responsibility of the Co-op Technical contact to initiate any action, but you'll need to support in these instances.

We'll also deal with notification to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) or enforcement authorities.

BRANDED RECALLS/WITHDRAWALS

Recalls/withdrawals are the supplier's responsibility.

For food recalls, you must contact your enforcement authority and agree the recall and point of sale (POS) with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) before progressing to Step 1.

 

For non-food recalls, you must contact your enforcement authority to agree the recall action, POS notices and relevant alert notifications before progressing to Step 1.

Whoever completes the notification must be authorised on behalf of your business to request the action and accept costs as documented with the Supplier Charges Matrix.

Note: Medicinal products have a separate recall process

Click the links below to find our

Medicinal Product Recall Guide and MEDPAN Form

STEP 1 - MAKING THE CALL

Let us know about a recall or withdrawal right away by telephoning the Operational Store Support team directly.

CO-OP OWN BRAND RECALLS/WITHDRAWALS – It’s the responsibility of the Co-op Technical contact to make the call.

 

BRANDED RECALLS/WITHDRAWALS – It’s the responsibility of the Supplier to make the call.

WHEN WE'RE OPEN

7.30am - 7pm on weekdays

8am - 4pm on weekends

WHEN WE'RE CLOSED

7pm-7.30am weekdays

4pm-8am weekends

(including bank holidays)

Call 0330 606 9490

choosing option 3 then option 5

to notify the Operational Store Support team that

you are initiating a Recall or Withdrawal.

Call 0843 290 6662

to notify the Operational Store Support team

that you are initiating a Recall or Withdrawal.

Steps 2 & 3 must be completed no longer than 4 hours after the call to the Operational Store Support team

STEP 2 - COMPLETE THE PAN FORM AND THE POS TEMPLATES

For a product recall or withdrawal, complete the PAN form ensuring that all information is accurately provided first time.

Product Action Notification (PAN) - download here

CO-OP OWN BRAND RECALLS/WITHDRAWALS – Supplier to complete the PAN Form in collaboration with the Co-op Technical contact.

 

BRANDED RECALLS/WITHDRAWALS – It’s the responsibility of the Supplier to complete the PAN Form.

For ALL product recalls it’s the Supplier’s responsibility to complete the two POS template documents:

9x3 'Shelf Edge' POS template - download here

Recall A4 POS template - download here

For Co-op Own Brand Recalls ensure that the product description and batch codes on the POS matches the description and format on the product. The POS must state a Display Notice until Date.

 

For Branded Recalls it’s the responsibility of the Supplier to ensure that both POS notices have been approved by the FSA before progressing to Step 3.

STEP 3 - THE NOTIFICATION

For either a product recall or withdrawal the completed documents must then be sent to the following two email addresses:

 

CO-OP OWN BRAND RECALLS/WITHDRAWALS – The Co-op Technical contact will email the completed PAN form (and POS notices if it’s a Recall). Ensure that the relevant Co-op Buyer is informed.

 

BRANDED RECALLS/WITHDRAWALS – The Supplier will email the completed PAN form (and FSA/FSS approved POS notices if it’s a Recall)

 

[email protected] and [email protected]

It's important, so remember to mark it as urgent.

If your product contains medicines, you can find an in depth recall guide here on our useful documents page.

WHAT COMES NEXT...

1. We'll check the details and come back to you

Once received, the Store Support team will check over the PAN and make sure that all fields have been completed accurately.

The team will then circulate the recall or withdrawal across the business. You will be notified once this communication has gone out.


2. Once we've received all wasted stock counts from our stores and depots, we'll raise an invoice which will act as a claim to cover the cost of the incident. Our Financial team will send two invoices:

​

1. Covering the stock and administration costs for stores (including an additional standard claim on behalf of our Independent Societies); and

2. A separate invoice for depot stock. This'll be based on the standard retail value of the goods in stores, covering the cost of missed sales. A breakdown of the costs is on the Charges Matrix.