2015 was not a great year for the food industry. One food safety nightmare after another made the news. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration listed 28 separate recalls and alerts for the month of December alone. Those recalls represented products ranging from dietary supplements to fresh farm produce which were recalled for a whole array of problems —salmonella, E. coli and listeria contamination, undeclared milk, soy and eggs, contamination with glass and metal fragments.
Brand after brand struggled when problems with their products arose, which sometimes made their customers seriously sick, and lead to food recalls. Once problems were detected, these companies at times found it difficult to pinpoint just where the problems had originated. Was it with the original supplier? Did contamination take place during production? Was the food mishandled during shipping? All of this confusion left many consumers with a bad taste in their mouths, and many brands saw their customer base shrink.