Page 38 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

No Thrillers, but Hard Reality 19
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just how dangerous the substance was. Nutricia chose discretion as the
better part of valour and recalled 2 million jars of Olvarit baby food
from the shelves.
Ironically, the company, which monitored the hygiene and quality
of its products extremely closely, had become a casualty of its own
caution. Nutricia had cleaned the jars so thoroughly that traces of the
disinfectant had remained behind in the jars. The damage is estimated
to have cost more than r20 million.
Two months earlier, 350,000 jars of baby and child food of the
Dutch brand Frisolac had been pulled from the shelves. Small particles
of aluminium, which could have endangered the health of the chil-
dren, had been found in the food.
In August 1993, glass splinters were found in several bottles of
Heineken beer that were intended for export. It was a life-threatening
situation, but fortunately there were no casualties. Heineken launched
an investigation into the cause of the incident. It quickly became
apparent that the company itself was not to blame. During packaging
or opening, minute glass particles had come loose on the inside of the
neck of the bottle. Heineken held the supplier of the bottles, United
Glass Manufacturers, of Schiedam, responsible for the damage. In
total, Heineken recalled 3.4 million bottles. At the end of March 1994,
Jupiler beer was faced with a similar problem. There, too, the error lay
with the bottle manufacturer, in this case Verlipac.
Unilever, a great name in the food industry, has not avoided crises.
At the beginning of the 1950s, Unilever was the first to introduce
plant-based margarine in the market, under the brand name Planta.
Seven years after the product had been introduced, the company
decided to add the anti-splash emulgator ME 18 to the margarine,
with disastrous results. In the summer of 1960, more than 100,000 res-
idents of The Netherlands suffered what became known as the blister
disease, a type of skin rash. Four people died and hundreds of others
were admitted to hospital. Unilever announced a total halt on all sales.
In December 1980, it became known that the deep-freeze rice and
deep-freeze vegetable products of Iglo contained nitrite, a carcinogen. At
least two people died after eating the contaminated products and many
others became ill. Iglo recalled approximately 300 tonnes of deep-freeze
products.

Rolls-Royce back to the shop

Not only the food industry, but other sectors too, are susceptible to
errors in the production process. Among them, the automotive
industry has had many a product recall.