In order to learn more about the registration and use of the peanutbutterrecall.com domain, Penguin SES contacted ConAgra. In response to an email inquiry dated August 25, 2008, Ms. Stephanie Childs, director of corporate communication, ConAgra Foods, stated that the acquisition of the URL was initially undertaken to provide the company options for their communication strategies:
“In regards to www.peanutbutterrecall.com, ConAgra Foods purchased that particular URL while considering the best avenues for providing consumers with pertinent information regarding our voluntary peanut butter recall announced in February 2007.
“We subsequently made the decision that the best way to provide consumers with information online was to continue to provide information through www.conagrafoods.com, which consumers were already using and was referenced widely in the media, in addition to the other communication outlets (e.g. toll-free number, media coverage, etc.) we were utilizing.”
ConAgra did continue to post other press releases on their corporate Web site as news unfolded during the voluntary recall. But why not redirect the name to a section on the ConAgra site? When Penguin SES sought further clarification regarding why the company had not used or redirected the URL, Ms. Childs stated on August 26, 2008, via email:
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any other specifics about our decision making processes regarding that URL that I could share with you. Overall, our focus was on ensuring that consumers had the accurate information about our voluntary recall via media coverage and other tools available to us.”
To try to address the issues of “type-in” traffic, or direct navigation, with respect to this domain, Penguin SES requested additional information from ConAgra on August 27, 2008.
We sought to obtain other perspectives from other internal ConAgra Foods departments, including PR, Legal, and IT that might be able to shed some light on the utilization, or non-utilization, of the domain name.
ConAgra’s response that same day reiterated that the company had decided to utilize their main URL as an effective way to get out the word concerning the voluntary recall. Ms. Childs further stated that ConAgra had confirmed that consumers were accessing their corporate Web site to get needed information:
“…our information indicated that consumers were relying on our company Web site found at www.conagrafoods.com for information about our voluntary recall. We focused our efforts on www.conagrafoods.com as being the best way to provide consumers with accurate, online information about our voluntary recall.”
On September 9, 2008, Penguin SES made another attempt to clarify ConAgra’s statement that indicated that consumers were relying on the company Web site for information about the voluntary recall. We respectfully requested comment asking whether or not ConAgra was tracking any traffic to the peanutbutterrecall.com URL. Ms. Childs, who was out of the office for a few days, responded on September 12, 2008:
“ConAgra Foods based its decision to provide online information regarding our voluntary recall efforts via www.conagrafoods.com based on the results of consumer surveys that indicated that consumers were relying on that Web site and other offline resources for the information they needed.”
The Process, the Web, the FDA & Magnitude
Since both ConAgra Foods and the FDA worked together to disseminate information about the voluntary peanut butter recall via press releases on their respective Web sites, Penguin SES wanted to understand the recall process in Web terms, specifically, how the FDA works with companies who go through a recall.
Arthur Whitmore, Public Affairs Specialist with the FDA, explained the details. “In most circumstances communication by FDA with a company undertaking a recall is performed by FDA field offices nearest the manufacturing facility,” Whitmore said. “These are the FDA offices where inspectors are located, and from which inspections of regulated facilities are performed. Recalls of food and dietary supplement products are initiated and conducted by the producing firm. FDA has no statutory authority to recall a food product,” he said.
When asked to comment on any special circumstances surrounding this particular recall, Whitmore said, “One special challenge concerned the nature of the product: one that can be held in cabinets, or food-donation warehouses, for a fairly long period of time. The agency took special steps to communicate with the public and the donation community to be aware that product they may have purchased some time prior to the recall should be not be used.” Whitmore also stated that ConAgra cooperated with FDA in the investigation and recall.
Interestingly, when it comes to the communication requirements of companies involved in a recall, Whitmore said that companies have a great deal of control. “They are not required by statute to communicate news per se. However, almost all companies choose to do so. FDA provides advice, including press release templates, to enable the company to write a release that includes basic information related to the type of product and the type of pathogen or deleterious substance. This communication between FDA and the recalling firm is performed by FDA field inspectors. In the rare instance that a company refuses to issue a press release recalling adulterated product, FDA can, and, on rare occasions, has issued a press release itself announcing the recall and including a statement that the firm refused to issue public warning.”
The FDA also received several hundreds of direct inquiries about this voluntary recall from consumers, according to Whitmore. He explained that the agency uses telephone communication as one point of contact. “FDA operates a consumer information line on food issues (1 888-SAFE-FOOD). The line is normally open from 10 to 4 weekdays. In the case of this outbreak, as with other wide-spread outbreaks, we expanded hours of the call-line and opened it on Saturdays and Sundays during the peak of the outbreak.” When asked about the amount of traffic to related Web pages on the FDA servers for the peanut butter recall, Whitmore acknowledged that he didn’t have that data, but he commented that the agency continues to augment its Web capabilities.
“More and more, however, FDA relies upon its website to place information and advice for the industry and the public concerning recalls, warnings and advisories on regulated products.” Whitmore shared that the FDA also feeds its information out to various news and information outlets, to ensure wide distribution. “Our press releases are distributed electronically and, with big recalls, often include links to site pages with more info. I can also say that FDA is working to increase visibility, accessibility and usability of recall information on the FDA website.”
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