Contaminated Frozen Poultry Products Recall Decision and Preventive Management Strategies in Retail Outlets in North Central Nigeria

This study examined the contaminated frozen poultry products (FPPs) recall decision and preventive management strategies in retail outlets in North Central Nigeria. It specifically, described the socioeconomic characteristics of the FPPs retail outlets in the study area, identified the existing management strategies employed by retailers in preventing FPPs recalls in the outlets in the study area, examined the factors influencing product recall decisions in FPPs retail outlets in the study area, and identified the challenges hindering FPPs retail outlets from implementing effective meat safety measures to prevent product recalls in the study area. A multistage sampling method was utilized to select 202 FPP retailers. To address the specific objectives, both descriptive statistics and logit regression analysis were applied. The findings revealed that most FPP retail outlets in the study area were operated by married men, aged between 21 and 40 years, with an average of around 11 years of retailing experience. The findings also indicated that packaging poultry products before freezing is the most commonly used management strategy by retailers to prevent FPP recalls in the study area. The analysis showed that the source of FPPs (P<0.01) and the total number of FPPs purchased per month (P>0.05) had a positive impact on product recall decisions in frozen poultry retail outlets. Consequently, the study concludes that there is a significant relationship between the management strategies of FPP retailers and product recall occurrences. It recommends that the government and relevant agencies provide educational resources and conduct awareness campaigns to encourage retailers to adopt effective management strategies, such as packaging poultry products before freezing, proper labeling, and fridge segmentation.