Innovations in Traceability Systems and Product ID Tools
As the global food economy struggles to reconcile itself with new concerns about bioterrorism and the emerging implications of foodborne illness outbreaks, its response has been to take greater control over processing and distribution channels through the traceability of ingredients and finished products. Large retailers and restaurant chains, such as Wal-Mart Stores and McDonald’s Corp., are demanding traceability from their suppliers, and most processors are beginning to recognize that proof of traceability will soon be a minimum standard for doing business.
In some parts of the world, traceability is not only a value-added for the food supply chain, it’s a law. Traceability systems have been obligatory for all businesses in the food chain in the European Union (EU) since January 2005. The EU directive requires businesses to be able to identify all suppliers of food, food products and feed, as well as all businesses to which they supply food or feed. The information needs to be systematically stored in order to be made available to inspection authorities on demand.
In the U.S., the Bioterrorism Act includes a similar requirement regarding the establishment of records to identify the immediate previous sources and immediate subsequent recipients of food, including its packaging, which came into effect for larger processors in December 2005. Smaller companies have until June 2006 or December 2006, depending on the company size, to comply.
Establishing security in the food chain is the goal of all these regulations, but how companies achieve that goal is largely up to them. Depending on the size of the company, the products and ingredients used and the complexity of its supply chain, different tools and tracking devices deliver different levels of security and information. Some traceability systems are deep, tracking details for hundreds of individual ingredients from dozens of suppliers through a multi-step production process, while others simply track a few key ingredients back to one key point in the production process.
Traceability tools fall under three categories: product identification (ID) and marking, traceability tools and software, and radio frequency identification devices (RFID) systems. In recent months, companies across the industry have released new products or updates to existing technologies designed to assist food processors, foodservice and retailers with developing systems that support track-and-trace objectives.
Product ID and Labeling
Product ID systems are the most common tracking tool being used and have been around the longest. They include bar coding and imprinting tools that use tracking numbers to link finished products back to specific data relating to their production history.
For processors that use a few key, self-contained ingredients, or use only a few key sources, ID and marking techniques serve their needs nicely. In response to the growing need for more exact tracking, or additional key data associated with marking tools, companies such as Eggfusion and Daymark are adding exciting new technologies to this traditional method for tracking.
Eggfusion’s (Deerfield, IL) new laser etching technology enables permanent, tamper-proof etching of a date and traceability code onto individual shell eggs that can be used to look-up additional data points regarding the egg’s origin and distribution. Unlike labels on cartons, the laser etching allows processors to track each individual egg with etching for freshness dating and traceability codes that are integrated with technology platforms, assuring accuracy in the information associated with the origin and distribution of the egg.
DayMark Safety Systems (Bowling Green, OH) recently introduced new Timestrip freshness indicator labels that adhese to fresh or frozen food packaging for automatic monitoring of product shelf life. Activated by peeling off the backing, squeezing a bubble on the back of the strip, DayMark TimeStrips are applied directly to the food package or container. After activation, a purple mark appears that gradually moves along a white horizontal bar to the left of the label strip, indicating the time that has lapsed as the food approaches its expiration date. When the bar is completely purple, the food has reached its expiration date and should be discarded.
According to the developers, the indicators allow processors and distributors to track food freshness in transit and in storage, saving the expense and potential health hazards caused by spoiled or wasted food, and are especially useful for food items at high risk for bacterial growth, such as seafood, poultry, meat and dairy.
The ability to track freshness data in transit and storage of food products through indicator labeling can be useful in reducing potential food hazards from reaching consumersers. Image courtesy of DayMark Safety Systems
Traceability Tools and Software
Food companies build traceability systems not only to meet legal requirements or customer standards but to raise productivity through enhanced data management. If a traceability system is robust enough, it can offer improved supply-side management, increased safety and quality control, and the ability to market foods with credence attributes that are difficult for consumers to detect, such as whether a food was produced through genetic engineering. Along with creating a safer food chain, these features are designed to result in lower-cost distribution systems, reduced recall expenses and expanded sales of high-value products, which all translate into greater profitability.
According the 2004 U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (USDA ARS) report, Traceability in the U.S. Food Supply: Economic Theory and Industry Studies, by Elise Golan, Barry Krissoff, Fred Kuchler, Linda Calvin, Kenneth Nelson and Gregory Price, traceability systems in U.S. companies tend to be motivated by eco-nomic incentives, not by government traceability regulations, and the more robust the system the greater the impact it has on the business. Cost/performance improvement benefits are driving the widespread development of robust tracking across the U.S. food supply chain.
However, one government regulation is becoming a factor in the drive toward increased traceability program implementation in the food supply chain. In September 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its final guidance to the food and beverage industry pertaining to the mandates of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act (Bioterrorism Act). Section 306 of the act mandates strict recordkeeping requirements for those who manufacture, process, pack, transport, distribute, receive, hold or import food in the U.S. In short, food companies with traceability programs in place are well positioned to comply with the regulation, which requires companies to be able to collect and keep data that enables the control of all materials and products throughout the entire lifecycle of their food products, from original supplier to consumer.
Traceability alone, however cannot accomplish these goals. Simply knowing where a product is in the supply chain does not improve supply management unless the traceability system is paired with a real-time delivery system or some other data collection and management system. To make traceability more than a tracking and recovery tool, many traceability systems include tools such as environmental monitors and product scanners that link information back to sophisticated data storage systems, which gather and organize product data so that it can be easily retrieved for safety, security and quality assurance reviews or recall situations.
The information gathered with these tools is limited only to the need and imagination of processors, and often include temperature and storage data, product testing, personnel handling, farm of origin, shipping, and time and date stamping data. There are several new and improved computerized systems and software on the market that are making data collection and management easier for food processors.
Traceability software systems help food companies manage data for product safety, quality and security throughout the food manufacturing and distribution supply chain. Image courtesy of Ross Systems Inc.
Ross Systems’ (Atlanta, GA) iRennaissance integrated business system automates traceability, enabling processors such as Berner Foods, Michael Angelos Gourmet Foods, Litehouse Foods, Gordon Fine Foods and others to monitor quality and product attributes for each batch or lot they manufacture. The software suite is a combination of business applications that manage financials, manufacturing operations, inventory control, and interactions with customers and suppliers, and can track raw ingredients throughout the production and distribution of finished products for quick containment in the face of a recall.
According to Ross Systems, iRennaissance customers have reduced lot trace times from several days to several minutes using its tracking features. One customer, Upper Marlboro, MD-based Murry’s, Inc., a manufacturer of more than 150 frozen food products, including its famous Quarter Pound Hamburgers and the top-selling Original French Toast Sticks, lacked an enterprise-wide solution to easily manage and maintain data throughout each step of the manufacturing process. In addition to the company’s internal audits, USDA required manufacturers to perform mock product recalls two to three times per year. Without the ability to quickly and efficiently recall product data and raw material information during these audits, the company had to use time-consuming and labor-intensive means to determine the movement of the audited products.
With the help of iRenaissance, Murry’s reported that it could more effectively track and trace products from raw material delivery, throughout the manufacturing process and on to the supermarket shelves. In the event a product recall should occur, Murry’s can bi-directionally trace each product, allowing the company to track its products in the event of a recall threat in less than four hours, which previously took an entire day.
QuaTIS from TUV America (Danvers, MA) is another system that enables security of quality control throughout the food production chain through a self-contained consumer information system that delivers key traceability information via the Internet. QuaTIS links existing company resource planning (product management), laboratory systems, other monitoring systems and external service provider information into one system. Its capabilities range from simple checks of appraisals of sample tests, to full quality control and traceability within the area of crop and livestock food production.
In addition to its range of data management systems, such as the InTrack system that offers in-plant traceability solutions, Invensys Wonderware’s (Lake Forest, CA) eCompliance Solutions is designed to enable food processors to quickly and affordably meet the Bioterrorism Act’s requirements under which the FDA must ensure that all food processing facilities in the U.S. and those that import products into the U.S. keep current, accurate records of every ingredient or other component that goes into its products. In addition to facilitating compliance with the new food bioterrorism regulations, the Wonderware eCompliance modular software package provides traceability for incoming materials, enables work-in-process changes and facilitates the shipment of finished goods. For large food manufacturers, eCompliance Solutions can also incorporate barcode technology, RFID and document exchange/business system integration in addition to recipe and inventory management.
AssurX’s (Morgan Hill, CA) CATSWeb is an enterprise-wide, FDA compliant, Web-based quality and compliance system that empowers organizations to identify production problems, avoid adverse events, trace-and-track quality and security data, and complete audits faster and more effectively than they can with paper-based systems. The CATSWeb system is used at FDA-regulated and ISO/QS 9000 certified companies around the world. CATSWeb is a zero client application that can be accessed from any computer, running any operating system, with any Web browser, anywhere and anytime that an Internet or intranet connection is available—which is useful for multi-plant and multinational food companies operating under differing regulatory or standards environments.
John Deere’s Agri Services (Hoffman Estates, IL) provides a series of tracking and traceability solutions that assist in the identification and isolation of food products and their ingredients throughout the agri-food chain. JDAS’s in-market solutions include in-field sensors and monitoring systems; RFID solutions to track field-level performance for produce and grains; and, tracking, tracing and decision support systems for producers, processors and manufacturers.
RFID: A New Frequency There has been a lot of talk about radio frequency identification device technology and its role in improving traceability in the industrial manufacturing and distribution supply chain. RFID smart labeling is a means of product identification that has been adopted by retailers and governmental agencies to track the movement of products throughout the supply chain.
RFID is being widely adopted by food retailers, such as Sainsbury’s in the U.K. as shown here, which is driving adoption by manufacturering companies upstream. Courtesy of Tibbett & Britten Group