Traceability Systems Stand for Authenticity and Safety

Food producers are constantly expanding their capacity to track the flow of food along the supply chain, though individual systems vary. Some traceability systems are deep, tracking food from the retailer back to the farm, while others extend back only to a key point in the production process. Some are very precise, tracking food products to the exact area of a field where they were grown, while others are less accurate.

Traceability systems tend to be motivated by economic incentives, and not by government traceability regulations. Companies build traceability systems to improve supply-side management, to increase safety and quality control, and to market foods with certain claims - such as whether a type of food was produced without genetic engineering. The benefits associated with these objectives include lower-cost distribution systems, reduced recall expenses, and expanded sales of high-value products. In every case, the benefits of traceability translate into larger net revenues for the company.

The main purpose of produce traceability is to protect consumers' health and safety. Although potatoes have never had a large-scale recall and are a low-risk produce item as they are cooked before consumption, it is important for producers to be prepared.

Although manual recall systems may work well for a company with a basic product, for a produce company that is sending potatoes from one lot to 15 customers in 27 different packages, a manual recall simply isn’t fast enough. That’s when software-backed systems are necessary to effectively execute a recall, especially when a company has a small timeframe to do so.

In the US, produce traceability is also required by Section 306 of the Bioterrorism Act, which states that all companies that grow, pack and ship food need to have a recall traceability program for consumer safety. PrimusGFS, the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognized audit system RPE, and many others, also emphasize produce traceability and requires a mock recall every six months. The company is allowed to choose what item it wants to test a recall for, whether packaging, a finished product or sprout inhibitor, as well as the severity of the mock recall.

The key to produce traceability, however, is keeping good records from seed to the packaged potatoes.

You can read the rest of this article in your complimentary e-copy of the September/October 2022 Issue of Potato Processing International magazine, which you can access by clicking here.