GMP & Compliance
Your recall plan
How to author and approve your recall plan in Crown, and how to log the mock recalls that test it.
Your recall plan is the documented procedure for pulling product if something goes wrong, together with a log of the mock recalls you run to test it. It lives under Food Safety → Recall plan, and the same plan is also editable on its program page under Documents: one plan, two doors, and edits from either place land in the same record.
Building the plan
The recall plan page walks through everything a procedure needs: your recall coordinator, consumer contact, recall team, distribution channels, and the procedure itself (how you notify, retrieve product, decide its disposition, and check that the recall worked). Fill in the sections that apply to your operation and save.
The recall plan on its program page
Your recall plan is one of your prerequisite programs, so it also has a program page: open Documents, select your recall program on the Programs tab, and the full plan editor is right there, alongside the program's reviews, evidence, and audit trail.
A few things are managed by the program page itself rather than the plan editor. The document reference, effective dates, and owner live in the page's Basics and Effective period sections (once the program is live, saving a change there asks for a reason, which is captured in the audit log), and program reviews are logged under Review history. The embedded editor covers the plan content itself: coordinator, consumer contact, recall team, distribution channels, the procedure sections, and the mock-recall log all work exactly as they do under Food Safety.
Logging a mock recall
A mock recall tests whether your records can actually trace a lot quickly. You run one from the Traceability tool, not from the recall plan page.
- Run a trace
Open Traceability and trace a recent lot. See Tracing a lot forward and backward.
- Write up your findings before you export
With the trace on screen, an Inspector findings panel appears above the results with two boxes: Findings (what worked, what didn't, any gaps the exercise surfaced) and Corrective actions (follow-up changes to procedure, training, or contacts). Fill these in now. They save alongside the exercise, and inspectors expect both on an annual mock recall.
- Export the mock-recall PDF
Select the export and confirm. Crown asks for a reason before it signs, so write what prompted the exercise, for example "annual mock recall exercise". The PDF downloads and doubles as the artifact you hand an inspector.
- Crown logs the exercise
Exporting records the simulation in your recall plan's mock-recall log under your name, with the time it took, the accountability percentage, your findings and corrective actions, and a scenario line Crown writes for you from what you traced, such as "Trace from ingredient lot HH-2504 (wildflower honey)". There's nothing left to fill in afterwards.
Only an export creates a log entry. A trace you run to answer a question and don't export stays a lookup, which keeps the log to exercises you meant to record.
If something needs changing later, open the recall plan and edit the logged simulation. The exercise is signed when it's recorded, so changes save as amendments: fill in Reason for change and select Save amendment, and the reason stays in the record's history.
Approving a revision
When the plan is ready, select Approve revision. Choose whether it's a minor or major revision, add a summary of what changed, and confirm. Approval captures your e-signature and sets the active revision; Crown keeps the full revision history. You can Download PDF once the plan has content.
What's next
Your recall plan is one of the pieces the PCP document pulls together. See Generating your PCP document.
Frequently asked questions
What is a mock recall?
A mock recall is a practice exercise that tests whether your records can trace a lot quickly and account for where it went, without an actual recall taking place. In Crown you run one from the traceability tool and it's logged on your recall plan.
What should a recall plan include?
A recall plan typically documents who coordinates a recall, how you contact customers and authorities, how you retrieve and dispose of affected product, and how you confirm the recall worked. Crown walks through each of these sections and keeps the plan versioned with e-signatures.
How often should I run a mock recall?
Running one periodically keeps the exercise on file and confirms your traceability actually works end to end. Many operators run at least one a year.