BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

We're surprised it took this long. Seattle law firm Marler Clark has filed the first lawsuit tied to the current salmonella outbreak in certain suspected brands of peanut butter against a supplier to Kellogg Co. and McKee Foods. Those companies have voluntarily recalled several of their products in recent weeks. Another firm, PritzkerLaw, of Minneapolis, plans to file its own suit on behalf of a 72-year-old woman who died in a nursing home allegedly after eating peanut butter.

So far, six people have died and more than 470 have been sickened in 43 states. State and federal health authorities have traced the salmonella strain to peanut butter and paste that originated in a Georgia plant owned by the supplier, Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). As a result, the FDA has advised consumers not to eat cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods that contain peanut butter or peanut butter paste.

Just as was the case with wholesale pet food supplier Menu Foods during the North American pet food recalls of 2007, brand-name food companies are suffering for the sins of suppliers to whom they have outsourced the production of ingredients. Unlike the supply chains of 40 years ago, food, drug and consumer product companies now seldom own or operate the plants where raw ingredients for their branded products are made. That makes it more difficult to control quality and especially hard to streamline a crisis response when a recall occurs.

In this case, for example, Kellogg, McKee Foods and even other branded food manufacturers were frustrated in their initial attempts to obtain clear information from PCA and translate that information into clearly defined messages to millions of confused consumers. Operating as a stand-alone (and largely anonymous) company, PCA had its own operation to protect, while branded food companies bore the brunt of publicity - and the attendant costs of recalls - in their efforts to prevent damage to brands familiar to consumers.

In today' s complex global marketplace, with supply chains often stretching around the world, brand-name companies must now take their suppliers into account when preparing crisis communications plans. In some cases, those companies will have to coordinate and approve crisis plans for their suppliers. In fact, the best-managed companies will integrate their suppliers into their crisis communications planning so that implementation is swift, seamless, and efficient. Most important, suppliers must be made to feel accountable for protecting the brands that reassure consumers and drive business growth.

After all, even a supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link.