E.coli reveals traceability poor in many categories
"Yes it would apply to most things," said Pascal Durdu, traceability expert at Zetes, which specialises in automated data capture and good identification.
"The lack of traceability with a serialised identifier makes it difficult to obtain any historical information. Essentially, manufacturers need to build an ID card around the goods being produced, to verify product origins and making it easy to access information showing the history of the goods."
Lack of concrete information had made it difficult to isolate and identify the original E.coli source and conduct a targeted recall, said Durdu. This would have restricted the number of companies hit, avoiding blame being directed at an entire industry.
"Instead, a lot of time was wasted with blame shifting from cucumbers to bean sprouts to lettuce and so on. This finally resulted in an entire industry's reputation being tarnished when it would have otherwise been avoidable."
Durdu said the system could be improved by offering advice on standardising identification methods; helping food manufacturers introduce serialisation for deeper traceability; and shoring up traceability gaps between different partners.
"The food industry could learn valuable lessons from the pharma sector, where serialised marking is now undertaken at the item, carton and pallet level in a bid to eliminate counterfeiting problems. Then, whenever goods enter or leave a stage in the supply chain, they are scanned and the products, with their entire history, either enter or leave the warehouse with a full data trail.
"Further information can also be added, informing stakeholders about cold chain conditions and any compromises to product safety. If a process like this were followed it would be very straightforward to resolve safety issues and recall products very quickly."
If firms invested in reusable pallets, these could be barcoded to include carton level identification and expiry date information, said Durdu.
However, many in the industry remain resistant to change because they believe it will be costly; they don't fully understand the wider benefits and there is a lack of regulatory pressure, he said.
