A new internet service has been launched to offer food businesses ways to improve their traceability performance.

TraceCheck is intended to help companies comply with the stringent EU legislation, which came into force on January 1, 2005.

Since then, European food businesses have been legally obliged to trace all food or ingredients they handle. TraceCheck, www.tracecheck.com, allows companies to click onto a range of simple diagnostic tools to assess their traceability efficiency against the legislation demands.

The website provides a structured framework for studying the situation within a company, identifying strengths and weaknesses.

It also guides the user through practical tests of their systems and generates feedback through reports and a traceability “score” based on various criteria.

The new service was created by the Global Food Safety and Traceability Forum. Ian Smith, chief executive, said: “Many companies are confused about the implications of the new legislation. This service helps to clarify many of these uncertainties in the context of the actual situation faced by each individual company.”