Why packaging is your first line of defense in preventing costly recalls

Sanitation measures. Temperature controls. Employee training. Food industry businesses have lots of tools when it comes to preventing recalls. Yet recalls have been on the rise in recent years—tripling since 2022. 

And it’s costing them dearly. 

Besides product retrieval, disposal, and loss of contaminated product sales, companies also have to contend with legal fees, regulatory fines, and the long-term loss of sales from damaged reputation and loss of consumer trust. 

To reduce the likelihood of product recalls, businesses must pay attention to every factor in the supply chain, including how the product is packaged. 

The relationship between corrugated packaging and recalls

Packaging is more than a way to carry products—it also serves as a barrier between that product and the outside world. When that barrier isn’t functioning as intended, it can lead to contamination, product spoilage, costly product waste, and regulatory non-compliance.

Yet, despite the advancements in food safety over the past 100 years, food packaging has remained stagnant. 

Corrugated packaging is not as effective as you think

When a food recall occurs, the effectiveness of the recall execution depends on multiple factors, including minimizing contamination risks, maintaining packaging integrity, and tracking and tracing affected products. 

Porous vs non-porous packaging

Traditional materials like corrugated boxes are porous. Porous packaging increases the potential for recalls through moisture absorption and bacterial growth, compromising food safety and making sanitization nearly impossible.

By contrast, non-porous materials, such as reusable plastic containers (RPCs), create a safer environment for food transport. Sanitizable, non-porous packaging lowers the risk of cross-contamination and reduces the likelihood of a recall.

Durability

If porosity helps prevent contamination risks, durability is just as crucial in keeping foods safe—both from contamination and from damage. 

Consider corrugated boxes packed with chicken breasts. With its lack of structural support, the poultry in these boxes can easily end up leaking due to box crush. In turn, this creates a situation where contamination can spread. 

By contrast, RPCs are stronger, more impact resistant, and have a consistent design, all of which protects products as they move through the supply chain.   

Traceability in recall management

The type of packaging you use can significantly affect how you trace and track your products, including recall management support and limiting food recalls to only the affected products. 

During a food recall, any products with any potential for contamination must be recalled. 

On the other hand, active tracking and packaging features provide data on every IoT-enabled asset. For example: 

• Exact shipment location tracking prevents product loss in the supply chain.
• Temperature and humidity monitoring identifies storage condition failures before the product reaches consumers.
• Batch-level identification isolates affected products, preventing unnecessary recalls.

With this information, businesses can pinpoint which lots are affected without conducting blanket recalls. This reduces the time and effort of a recall and increases consumer trust by demonstrating your business’s commitment to transparency and quick response times. 

Just as importantly, this data can decrease recalls. By monitoring environmental conditions throughout the supply chain, businesses can spot at-risk shipments and take corrective action before a recall is necessary.

The traceability mandate

With new food regulations taking effect, traceability measures are more critical than ever. The FSMA’s Section 204, which requires compliance by January 20, 2026, emphasizes active tracking, especially for high-risk foods like fresh produce and fish. 

Why is choosing the right packaging crucial?

Approximately 15% of food products go to waste due to suboptimal transit conditions, which rises to almost half for fresh produce. 

In addition to food waste, ineffective packaging can lead to increased logistics costs and product destruction costs during a recall, not to mention legal fees and reputation damage, which can take years to recover from. 

But what if your packaging could help you protect your food and your business? Sustainable, advanced packaging serves multiple purposes.

Packaging solutions: Proactive defense for recalls

Traditional approaches to food recalls too often focus on reactive strategies. The right packaging, however, can act as a first line of defense, a food safety tool that gives businesses a competitive advantage as they protect product integrity. 

Reduce product risk and recall time with Tosca’s reusable packaging

Tosca is a leading provider of reusable containers for transporting eggs, produce, and case-ready meat from suppliers to grocery retailers. 

Tosca’s packaging is a proactive defense against recalls, expediting recall responses and reducing labor costs during recalls. 

• Reduce contamination risks with non-porous materials, better ventilation, and durability to prevent leakers.

• Expedite recall responses with Tosca Asset IQ^TM, a traceability solution technology that gives users complete control of supply chain tracking, temperature monitoring, origin and traceability, and humidity sensors for every lot.

• Reduce labor costs during recall with streamlined, active asset tracking that provides full visibility, customizable data points, and better inventory management.

Recall protection starts with better packaging

The future of food safety technology is here—and it’s not shaped like corrugated boxes. It looks like smart, sustainable packaging solutions that meet the most stringent sanitization requirements of the industry. 

Learn more about Tosca’s reusable packaging solutions here, or contact our team for a consultation on your process, product, and packaging.