Kellogg’s (est. February 19,1906) is an international manufacturer of food products like cereals, snacks, and frozen foods. (Google.com.au, 2017) It is headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States and is doing business in over 180 countries. The goal of the company has always been to nourish families. (Tam et al., 2013)
In June of 2010, Kellogg’s in United States received complaints about unusual smell and taste from the boxes of breakfast cereal snacks. There were 20 complaints received from customers and 5 of them vomited or became nauseous after eating or smelling the cereal. The products were Kellogg’s Corn Pops, Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, Kellogg’s Froot Loops, and Kellogg’s Apple Jacks distributed nationwide with better-if-used-before dates ranging from March 26, 2011, to June 22, 2011. (Brat and Becker, 2010)
The company responded quickly to this and recalled 28 million boxes of its cereals. The company was already on the radars of US Food and Drug Administration because of previous issues. (Fulton, 2010) Seeing such a big recall, FDA started to investigate about the happening and the company replied that the problem emerged because of a chemical 2-methylnaphthalene that got accidently transferred to the cereals from the wax-like compound used in packaging. When tested it was found “slightly elevated levels” of 2-methylnapthalene in the cereal box liners and that a proximate health risk estimate showed that “sensitive” customers could expect reactions. The chemical filtered into the cereals from the linear packaging. (Philpott, 2010)
This chemical is a petroleum based compound and is a part of the chemicals used in cereal box liners. The company representative says that it was in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “Generally Recognized As Safe,” or GRAS list. However, EWG (Environmental Working Group), was not able to find the compound on FDA’s GRAS list online. (Lunder, Andrews and Houlihan, 2010)
The company launched a helpline to answer customer’s questions. They could also ask from their website. Kellogg’s also offered replacement coupons. All this affected the company financially. The company further filed a lawsuit in 2011 against the packaging company from Canada amounting to US $70 million. (Greene, 2014)
The three stakeholder groups involved here are customers, Government body FDA and employees. The motivation to employees will be provided by a presentation where they will get additional information about the chemical. A report will be sent to FDA about the actual cause of issue and the public (customers) will be addressed by a press release in daily newspaper.
The aim of this media strategy is the CSR of company.
The press release can cover a large audience who are buyers and responsible for increase or decrease in sales. A report is sent to the authority to clarify the issue. The best way to give a message to employees is in the form of presentation. As during training also presentations are an important medium.
This strategy will rebuild the confidence of stakeholders and ultimately benefit company.
Kellogg’s want to assure its customers that the cereals are safe to consume and only 4 type of breakfast cereals showed unusual flavour and smell.
Few days back, we received complaints from the customers that the cereals in the boxes have unusual taste and smell. A total of 20 complaints were received from customers. The products involved are:
These products were distributed nationwide with better-if-used-before dates ranging from March 26, 2011, to June 22, 2011. The company has investigated the whole case and found that 2-methylnaphthalene is responsible for the smell and taste. This is a part of chemical used in the linear packaging of the cereal boxes. Its quantity was found more in the linear packaging of these packets and from there it filtered to the cereals.
It is the health of the consumers that matters to us most. So, without giving government body or welfare trust any chance to question us or take any action against us, we are voluntarily recalling these four breakfast cereals from the market. Albeit, this recall was consulted with US Food and Drug Administration. This clearly displays our responsibility towards customers. The chances of serious health problem are minimal and the consumers sensitive to unusual smell and taste should stop consuming these cereals immediately as they may result in nausea and vomiting. The company has taken the following steps in this regard:
We again want to clarify that no other product, except these above mentioned, is a part of this recall. This is not at all a manufacturing fault. It happened because of linear packaging used in the boxes. This is a nationwide recall only and no other country has these affected products. “We sincerely apologize from our customers and consumers and want to ensure that we are working hard to replace these products as soon as possible”. Any query regarding this rollback and replacement will be answered by our consumer response centre at 888-801-4163 from 8 am to 8 pm Eastern time.
Kellogg’s was established in 1906 and is one of the world’s largest breakfast food manufacturer. It is headquartered in Michigan, USA and currently doing business in over 180 countries of the world.
Report to US FDA
Ref No……………………………………
Date…………………
From:
[Name of the Manager]
Communications Manager
Kellogg Company Headquarters
To:
Mr./ Ms [Name of the concerned Person]
USA
Sub: Voluntary Rollback of 4 Kellogg’s Breakfast Cereals from the US Market
Sir/ Ma’am,
There were few complaints regarding four breakfast cereals that unusual smell is coming from them and they also taste differently. A total of 20 complaints are received till date. Out of these 20, 5 of them felt nauseousness or vomited after consuming these cereals. The four products are:
No other product except these four is affected in any way possible and this problem is only in the United States. These products were distributed nationwide with better-if-used-before dates ranging from March 26, 2011, to June 22, 2011
The company has already investigated in this matter. This is not at all a problem from production, it is because of packaging. It is found that 2-methylnaphthalene is responsible for the changed taste and unusual smell. The elevated level of 2-methylnapthalene was found while testing but it was below harmful level. This is a part of the chemical used in the linear packaging of the cereal box. The chemical filtered from the packaging and mixed with cereals. This resulted in the unusual smell and change in taste. Although, the results do not indicate any type of serious health problems because of 2-methylnapthelene except to some people who are sensitive to unusual smell and taste.
As the health of our customers is our priority, so we have decided to roll back 28 million packets of these four cereals from the country. The FDA should note that it is a voluntary decision and we hope FDA will support us in fulfilling this responsibility towards customers. The company has decided to take following steps towards the safety of its consumers and regarding this issue. They are:
To do a nationwide recall of above mentioned four breakfast cereals which means 28 million packets from the whole country.
The supplier of packaging material from Canada has been informed about this whole issue and demanded a clarification of the whole. The supplier is told not to repeat this mistake in future. Further a lawsuit will be filed against him.
The customers are offered a replacement coupon for these products which they can get by exchanging the packets.
A helpline no. 888-801-4163 available from 8 am to 8 pm eastern time is started for answering customer questions and regarding replacement coupons.
For any type of clarification regarding this issue or any other, the management of the company will always be there. We will keep you updated with every step taken in the direction to resolve this problem.
Thank You!
Yours Faithfully,
[Signature]
[Name of the Manager]
Communications Manager,
Kellogg Company
References
Brat, I. and Becker, N. (2010). Kellogg Recalls Cereal. [online] WSJ. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703615104575328883385848118 [Accessed 21 May 2017].
En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Kellogg’s. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellogg%27s [Accessed 21 May 2017].
Fda.gov. (2013). Contact FDA. [online] Available at: https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/default.htm [Accessed 21 May 2017].
Fulton, A. (2010). Kellogg Recalls Popular Breakfast Cereals Because Of Strange Smell. [online] NPR.org. Available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2010/06/29/128191629/kellogg-recalls-popular-breakfast-cereals-because-of-strange-smell [Accessed 21 May 2017].
Google.com.au. (2017). Google. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com.au/#q=kellogg’s+establishment [Accessed 21 May 2017].
Greene, K. (2014). Packager In $70M Kellogg Smelly Cereal Recall To Face Jury – Law360. [online] Law360.com. Available at: https://www.law360.com/articles/568068/packager-in-70m-kellogg-smelly-cereal-recall-to-face-jury [Accessed 21 May 2017].
Harrington, R. (2010). Packaging is tainted, no hazardous material in food – Kellogg. [online] FoodNavigator-USA.com. Available at: https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Ingredients/Cereals-and-bakery-preparations/Packaging-is-tainted-no-hazardous-material-in-food-Kellogg [Accessed 21 May 2017].
Lunder, S., Andrews, D. and Houlihan, J. (2010). Kellogg’s Cereal Recall: Health Risks from Packaging? [online] EWG. Available at: https://www.ewg.org/research/kelloggs-cereal-recall-health-risks-packaging [Accessed 21 May 2017].
Philpott, T. (2010). Tainted cereal exposes soggy food-safety system. [online] Grist. Available at: https://grist.org/article/food-kelloggs-froot-loops-recall/ [Accessed 21 May 2017].
Tam, K., Liu, T., Song, S., Huang, R. and Li, Q. (2013). Company Synopsis for: Kellogg Company. 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&edata-src=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjAtOnjkIDUAhUTzCYKHRAgD8AQFghLMAc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfu.ca%2F~sheppard%2F478%2Fsyn%2F1131%2FGroup_G.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEbgMvlqJru2v2C1Mdp8q2SErA1_Q [Accessed 21 May 2017].
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