In recent times, our diet has been affected by new trends, such as the marketing of organic products, 'vegan' labels on many preparations or quality seals.
All of this is ensured by the concept of traceability . Controls involving traceability are relatively new and may sound strange to those of us who do not work in the food industry, but they are essential to guarantee the safety of the food we buy.
Read on to learn more about the concept of traceability and how it is implemented in a company.
What is food traceability?
This is the process that makes it possible to identify and discriminate between the set of measures, actions and procedures that allow each product to be registered and identified, from its origin to its final destination, promoting increased safety in the different processes and seeking to reduce the number of incidents detected.
Basically, it is about knowing the path that food takes from the producer to our homes. By knowing this path, measures can be taken to ensure the health of consumers if something goes wrong. Identifying the stage where food contamination has occurred is essential to stopping a crisis.
traceability process in the food industry
Traceability applied to production
In the production of food, meat, fish, milk, eggs, etc., there must be a documented traceability procedure. The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition provides a very useful guide for agri-food companies , which includes the phases of implementation of the system :
Study your own filing systems.
Consult with suppliers and customers.
Define the scope of application.
Define criteria for grouping products in relation to traceability.
Establish necessary records and documentation.
Establish validation/verification mechanisms by the company.
Establish inter-company communication mechanisms.
Establish a procedure for locating and/or immobilizing and, where appropriate, removing products.
Traceability systems in food sector logistics
Traceability applied to distribution
Logistics systems have been working for years on the traceability of their deliveries. Through software and web implementations, it is always possible to know where the deliveries of goods are. These systems, applied to the food industry, are essential to be able to block a batch of food that may be contaminated, through tracking , or forward tracking. Likewise, in the case of raw materials from the food industry, the backward tracking system ( tracing ) of distribution companies also helps to prevent and identify all the stages that the products go through before reaching the consumer.
At a practical and operational level, traceability can be developed with various physical supports, such as bar codes or radio frequency identification (RFID) labels. At the same time, the companies involved must manage data kuwait number capture and recording machinery such as code readers or frequency detection arches.
When an incident related to food safety occurs in a company, the traceability system will guarantee a quick solution and that the problem does not cause health problems.
In these cases, companies must act with transparency, following certain steps:
Block the scope of the problem through traceability information, which will help to limit the incident to an exact area in time and space.
Report the incident to the authorities and other companies involved in distribution or marketing.
Withdraw the product from the market and immediately stop any ongoing distribution.
The proper implementation of the traceability system will be the main tool for crisis management to be fast, effective and cause the least possible damage.
The importance of the traceability system at a global level involves several agents : for companies it means an increase in security, and therefore it has an economic impact on efficiency and improved management; for the buyer and consumer of food it means having a guarantee and total confidence in the product; for administrations it means that in the event of a possible incident, action will be taken quickly and effectively.
If you work in the food or logistics system, or are looking for work in this sector, training in this field is essential. At CursosFemxa.es we have a new online course on Traceability in the Food Industry, in online or in-person format in Valencia , which can provide you with all the necessary knowledge to improve your work performance or opt for positions with more responsibility.