Page 42 - FoodFocusThailand No.156 March 2019

STRONG QC &
STRONG QC & QAQA
How Foodservice Industry

Can Collaborate to Improve

Food Traceability

visibility of the product’s movement through the distribution channel.
The internal data and processes a company use to track products
is integrated into a larger system of external data exchange between
trading partners. This enables food companies to work together to
pinpoint and isolate affected product during a recall.
There are three key standards trading partners adopt as the
foundation for recall readiness.
1. Global Trade Item Number, a globally unique identifier of products
can be recognized in all trading partner systems, even across geographic
boundaries.
2. Global Location Number, a globally unique identification number
for supply chain partner locations such as a farm, manufacturing plant,
a distributor’s loading dock, or a restaurant location. They help a company
record each stop a product has made in the supply chain.
Last spring, the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak 3. GS1-128 barcodes, when applied at the case level, enable
presented a harsh reminder of how complex and companies to encode product identifiers as well as additional information
vulnerable the fresh food supply chain really is. The such as batch/lot/serial numbers, best-by dates, variable weight
information and more — key details that help companies isolate affected
headlines grew more troublesome from week to week, product during a recall.
and eventually, five consumers died from eating tainted Protect By implementing traceability programs, food companies are
romaine lettuce. Another 197 became ill, and 89 not only protecting guests from harm, they are protecting their reputations
received treatment from hospitals, across 35 states, from lasting damage. Cost of food recalls in the U.S. exceeds $55 billion
according to the CDC. The FDA struggled for months to dollars per year, according to Ohio State University research, and this
does not even take into account the long-term effects of reputational
find the origin of the outbreak, while sales in the entire damage. Even if the supplier is responsible for paying the upfront costs
lettuce category declined. Nielsen research shows associated with an outbreak, the brands and restaurants associated with
romaine sales dropped 45 percent in May from one them can be vilified from the consumer’s perspective.
Recent research from FoodLogiQ provided eye-opening information
year prior, and the outbreak has hurt other leafy green about how the consumer views a brand associated with a recall. One-half
sales, too. Many foodservice operators pulled salads of consumers surveyed thought that a food company should be able to
from their menus out of an abundance of caution, while resolve a recall or foodborne illness within one to two days. This exposes
a grave disparity in what the consumer expects and what is actually
consumer confidence sank. possible. We must work together to close the gap.

Our guests deserve better. The food service industry needs to Predict Brands and foodservice operators can more proactively work
improve trading partner collaboration so food contamination can be with their supply chain partners to enable standards-based ecosystems
pinpointed, and the impact can be minimized. There are three ways and once and for all, break down the data silos that hinder effective
that the food service industry can work together to improve food traceability. Through this collaboration, industry stakeholders can more
traceability and enhance food safety in the supply chain: prevent, easily predict the course of action for a recall and even conduct mock
protect and predict. recalls regularly so there are no surprises.
Ideally, manufacturers can help foodservice operators isolate product
Prevent Even after the Yuma, Arizona, region had been identified by their GTIN during a recall and have batch/lot/serial numbers readily
as the source of the romaine lettuce outbreak, the pathogen crept available to find out if more potentially affected product is on its way to
further across the country because of the lack of efficient traceability a given location. For example, in just one recall, IPC/Subway estimated
in the supply chain. The long-drawn-out investigation and mysterious potential supplier savings of $419,000 by being able to accurately target
nature of this situation could have been prevented with effective trading 980 restaurants which had the impacted product in inventory, as opposed
partner collaboration. to unnecessarily investigating over 5,700 restaurants. This targeted recall
For several years, food suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, is possible with the use GS1 Standards, including the GS1-128 barcode,
operators, retailers and technology providers have prioritized which automatically captured extended product information to inform the
traceability by collaborating through initiatives such as the Foodservice entire recall process in real time.
GS1 US Standards Initiative and the Produce Traceability Initiative. The bottom line is that traceability enhances consumer trust and
They have adopted GS1 Standards, which enable traceability by protect your brand. No foodservice operator wants to risk being the next
ensuring all trading partners communicate in a uniform manner. subject of damaging headlines in connection with a foodborne illness
Standardized information about products and locations ensure outbreak. Using the common language of standards, the entire community
systems interoperability and provide a singular approach to maintaining can adopt more proactive and efficient recall processes that protect the
product information that supports, at the very least, “one-up/one-down” public from harm and help avoid disastrous consequences in the future.

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