After testing traceability applications and mock recall scenarios in the produce industry supply chain, Canadian and US trade associations CPMA and PMA have launched their Traceability Task Force (CPTTF) have released Fresh Produce Traceability, A Guide to Implementation.
The guide includes traceability pilot program results, identifies barriers to implementation, and suggests data standards for traceability within the produce supply chain.
Results of the pilot found that - due to the different approaches grower-shippers, retailers, and foodservice distributors take in data collection/storage and varied approaches to internal tracking of product - product identity is lost, resulting in inefficient recalls.
The pilot program also revealed that: "Proprietary traceability systems used by some organisations in the produce industry - while extremely efficient - often cannot be adapted throughout the supply chain due to a lack of data integration between internal and external systems."
For a recall initiated at the harvest or distribution level, enhanced traceability could result in a significant reduction in scope of the volume of product implicated.
To download a copy of the traceability guide, visit www.pma.org
Meanwhile, in the wake of the Sudan 1 crisis that led to nearly 600 food product recalls in the UK, the European Union (EU) has published a guidance document to help supply chain members better understand new European food traceability regulations.
The EU's traceability guidelines are similar in intent to the US record-keeping rules that pertain to food security. The EU rules are a "one-up, one-back" provision that require importers in the EU to know from whom and where they received products. The rules do not apply outside the EU.
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