So what’s the beef with ‘farm to fork’ traceability?

Within the food industry there has been much discussion about ‘farm to fork’ regulations, not least EU 178/2002. Given the severe penalties for breaching food safety laws and the growing incidence of highly-publicised product recalls, there is a growing sense that it is time for action, not words.

The principal aim of the updated and strengthened EU178/2002 is to protect the consumer with an integrated approach to food safety throughout the entire production and distribution chain – from animal feed, primary production and processing right through to manufacture, logistics and final sale. In practical terms, this means that food companies must be able to identify where they got their products from and who they sold them on to, known as ‘One-Up, One-Down’ traceability.

This sounds simple enough. However, such information must be made available to the relevant authorities on demand. In extreme cases, such as bioterrorist attacks, that could mean within four hours! For those reliant on paper-based trails, tracking down information about an ingredient purchased months if not years ago may prove a tall order, particularly if it was sourced from overseas.

Pressure from retailers

As well as the legal onus on companies, high street operators are also driving the move to traceability. Retailers are particularly keen to ensure that they have the necessary systems and controls in place to minimise the likelihood of food safety incidents and improve the handling of any future occurrences. Indeed, being keen to claim the high ground on food safety issues, their demands on third party suppliers often far exceed the letter of the law.

Above all, the retail trade realises the vital importance of retaining consumer confidence in times of crisis. One leading retailer was, for example, reportedly able to identify 95 per cent of products affected by a rogue batch of Worcester Sauce within just half an hour. With so much at stake, such retailers will not allow their responsible stance to be undermined by any lack of vision further up the supply chain. Total traceability of ingredients, products and batches may sometimes be required to target affected batches and enable instant, accurate and complete product recalls.

Time to respond

With traceability clearly a priority for retailers when it comes to reviewing potential product lines and awarding contracts to suppliers, the food production and processing industry must respond to ensure compliance and stay competitive. The alternatives are clear - inaction raises the spectre of lost contracts and loss of reputation should things go wrong in the future, not to mention punitive legal action. Whereas, a new automated system holds the promise of additional business benefits such as reduced insurance premiums and increased process efficiency and product quality.

Once the decision to automate has been taken, there are many factors to consider, including the concern that suitable technology will be hard to find and may prove expensive: then there is the possible disruption caused by having to re-examine processes or working practices to accommodate new systems.

However, in reality, the foundations for automated traceability have often already been laid – usually through existing manual paper-based systems. Faced with issues such as the increasing complexity of ingredients and the need to identify individual batches, plus the requirement for real-time information, there are usually ample grounds to cost-justify the move or upgrade to an IT-enabled system.

System selection

A traceability system should be able to provide information to assist in process control and management, including stock control, material usage and quality control, and meeting regulatory requirements. It is important to ensure that processing issues or product recalls can be easily handled and the system should make it simple to produce evidence or support claims made about products.

Integration is also a key issue, given the usual requirement to use new traceability technology alongside existing MRP and ERP systems. In addition, any new system should not only meet the demands of current safety legislation as well as EC /US legal requirements, but should also have the potential to meet even more stringent stipulations that may emerge in the future.

Reliable technology, proven expertise

The technology required for food traceability system implementation is already proven. Barcodes and RFID (radio frequency identification) tags are widely used for such purposes, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Data collection equipment - including label printers, barcode scanners and readers - also has a proven track record in providing operating efficiencies.

Compatibility between the software for barcode label printing or RFID tag coding and the hardware for recording/reading the information is paramount. Thus there are obvious advantages to working with suppliers who have a history of successfully integrating these technologies in the tightly regulated and demanding pharmaceuticals, life sciences and logistics industries.

PRISYMID is one such supplier. PRISYM ‘FoodTrace’ provides a robust traceability solution, specifically tailored to the needs of the food production and processing industry, that includes automated ‘One-Up, One-Down’ traceability and automated recall notices. Customised labels can be designed and printed ‘on demand’ and barcode and RFID identification methods are easily originated, encoded, verified and implemented.

The software can be operated from a wide range of Wi-Fi or narrow band RF data capture devices including hand-held PDAs, fork-truck mounted terminals, barcode scanners and images, and desktop PC workstations. It will also operate on any mobile device running Windows CE or Pocket PC.

With project management another key consideration, a supplier such as PRISYMID can demonstrate the project management skills that such a mission-critical integrated turnkey software/hardware operation will demand.

Time to act

Nearly two years have elapsed since EU178/2002 and its critical traceability clauses were added to the UK statute book. With excellent enabling technology now available, should there be another incident on the scale of Sudan 1 or indeed a bioterrorist attack, there will surely be no place to hide.

After all the talk, the time has come to put meat on the bones of traceability. The cost of the required system may well be less than envisaged and the all-round benefits should certainly impact positively on business efficiency and competitiveness.

PRISYMID Limited, TECH House,
Oaklands Business Centre, Oaklands Park,
Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 2FD ,
United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 118 936 4400
www.prisymid.com