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FoodTracE - State of the Art Reviews for WP2 (Traceability Data) and WP3(Stakeholders and Product Data).Last up-date 30
th
March 2003. Dr Ian RussellScope
The basic premise of FoodTracE is that traceability data must adequatelydescribe all the products and processing in the supply chain. Processes includesafety inspection and quality assurance.
The general objectives of the project under traceability data are to define (a)standards for item identification and (b) methods for handling safety and qualitydata. The second of these objectives needs to be extended to (if not replaced by)the interchange of data between operators.
The industry - summary
During the three years since the inception of FoodTracE, many supply chainswithin the food industry have introduced traceability and quality assuranceschemes. These chains have developed their own methods for handling safetyand quality data, but there are no generally accepted protocols for interchangingdata between chains.
Many smaller producers have joined consortia that supply supermarkets andcomply with their requirements for traceability.
While food standards agencies recognise some independent producers (outsidethe supermarket sector) have adopted best practices, they are concerned thatmany smaller producers need to improve.
Identification - need to use multiple identifiers and attributes
Some of the best smaller producers say that current standards for identification -devised for logistics and distribution - do not allow their products to bedifferentiated as they want them to be.
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Some European winemakers want to add the vintage to barcode symbols, ina similar way to the barcode addenda that distinguish monthly magazines.
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Going one step further a specialist Italian cheese cooperative has developeda system to give specific information about its cheeses to shoppers. To dothis as simply as possible it wants to add the maker to the barcode identifyingthe brand.
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The fresh fruit sector is struggling with the questions of identifying loose itemsand of reconciling the market demand for a limited number of varieties withthe huge number of growers. It appears that the solution will involve someform of mapping between the identifiers used by retailers at the point of sale,by packers and traders, and by growers.
The problem underlying these examples is that the identification of food oftendepends a number of attributes rather than a single identifier.
Supply chains and markets
The supermarkets are attempting assure the quality and safety of food, and their reputation, by strong organisation and control over their supply chains all the wayback to feed and seed. Once established, these chains result in a consistentproduct and facilitate traceability.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the independent sector operates in relatively'disorganised' chains through its markets, agents and traders. Sea-fisherman, for example, often have little idea of where their catch will go. At one end of therange of solutions is a global repository of data used by all the members of thechain and at the other end is a virtual organisation in which all the membersfollow a code of basic practice and use generally available methods of communication such as the internet.
Although there are real differences between the multiple and independentsectors, in reality significant cross-trading occurs due to day-to-day variations indemand. Since 'one bad apple will rot the rest', a common approach totraceability is in the interest of all stakeholders.
Global issues
Debate about the nature and definition of traceability continues both in Europeand internationally. There is some discussion about the extent of legal andvoluntary requirements, but there seems to be general agreement on theunderlying principles.
Legal basis
European Food Law has established the legal basis for traceability in the 'one-upone-down' model. The United States is to introduce a similar regulation. On 10March 2003 the U. S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety andApplied Nutrition (FDA/CFSAN) published its CFSAN 2003 Program Priorities.Regulation Sub-Strategy 1.1.3 in its 'Food Security: Implementing New
Legislation Priority Area' is to 'Issue a proposed rule for the establishment andmaintenance of records to identify immediate previous source and immediatesubsequent recipient of foods'.
Codex - European and United States positions
Codex Alimentarius has been considering aspects of traceability for three years.
The following extracts from the European Community Comments for the CodexAlimentarius Commission, Geneva, 2-7 July 2001 clearly state the Commissionsaims for traceability.
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The EC believes that traceability is an instrument of risk management,
health protection of the consumer as well as fair trade
and as such relevant tointernational trade.
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Definition and purpose of Traceability
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The EC supports the definition of traceability provided by the InternationalOrganization for Standardization: "
ability to trace the history, application or location of an entity by means of recorded identification"
(ISO standard 8402:1994) or more specifically as the ability to trace a food, feed, food-producinganimal or ingredients, through all stages of production and distribution
.
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The Task Force on Foods derived from Biotechnology confirmed that theconcept of traceability was "
a system which guarantees a continuous flow of appropriate information at all stages of placing on the market of foods
" (draftALINORM 01/34, page 10).
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Moreover traceability should aim at limiting discontinuity of the informationthroughout the food supply chain. In practice the term traceability stands for asystem of record keeping and documentation by operators that enablestracking of the movement of a product or ingredient through the food chain.
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Traceability should be applicable to all foodstuffs and feedingstuffs.
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Importance and guidelines
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Traceability enables consumers to be provided with targeted and accurateinformation concerning products. This is especially important in cases wherethe consumer is willing to pay a higher price for products that are producedunder certain guaranteed circumstances such as organically produced foods.
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Verifiable documentation is an important element in an effective food controlsystem as well as the HACCP principles. This means that food operatorsshould ensure, at each stage of the production chain, that relevantinformation is provided in the form of labelling or accompanying
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