Page 56 - FoodFocusThailand No.174 September 2020

SMART PRODUCTION

New Generation of 2D Barcode

for Consumer Safety

Since the first era of retail and modern trade, there is a Food safety for fresh foods is entering a new era for the retail sector.
need to identify goods within a supply chain for calculating Supermarket giants the world over have recognized the need to
price at POS, purchasing goods, managing stock and transform the way food is managed within the supply chain to ensure
customer safety. Enter the 2DBarcode. A content rich, on-pack symbol
warehouse, tracking and tracing logistics unit and that is about to transform fresh foods in the retail environment. The
managing a logistics system. Nowadays, public sector, single symbol enables multiple data elements to be available at point-
retailer and consumer have raising up their concerns for of-sale including product batch/lot number, serial number, best before
date, use-by date, pack date, weight and price.
product safety; therefore, barcode technology needs to Woolworths have already taken a proactive approach to improving
serve their needs by creating functions to anti-counterfeit, consumer food safety by piloting 2D Barcodes in a trial across several
traceability and physical and product information flow stores in Sydney. Richard Plunkett, Woolworths’ General Manager of
Business Enablement said, “The (2D Barcode) trial was a complete
management. success and demonstrates that 2D Barcodes have immense potential.
We’re excited to see how they can improve food safety across the
The barcode technology has been used for managing the supply chain entire Woolworths network.”
for more than 50 years with an objective to fulfill those needs. Traceability
system will help increasing a supply chain transparency and help all parties Smart: More data.
checking the product movement from manufacturer to consumer. Hence, Fresh: More accurate expiration date management, automatic
it is vital to identify product in each packaging level with a unique identification markdowns, improved stock control and less food waste.
number. This is the core of GS1 traceability principle and the most important Safe: Enhanced end-to-end traceability, consumer confidence,
component is the 2D Barcode called GS1 DataMatrix. faster and more targeted recalls.
The needs for product safety have become a product traceability policy Fast: GS1 DataMatrix has a better-read rate at point-of-sale
from both product owner and government sector. Currently, medicine and resulting in fewer delays at check out.
medical device in the United States, the EU, Australia, Russia and South Small: 2D symbols occupy a lot less space than other GS1
Korea are required GS1 Standard barcode on their package that can identify barcodes, providing suppliers more valuable space on product
product at the level of batch/lot number and serial number for a product packaging for greater branding, consumer messaging and regulatory
traceability process in each destination country. Moreover, food industry information
also starts working on the product traceability for increasing product safety In order to generate this barcode, we suggest to use the GS1
for consumers. certified barcode generator to ensure that your barcode has been
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration unveiled on July 13, the New Era generated correctly according to GS1 Standard. For barcode printing,
of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint, a strategic plan to strengthen the there are many methods which meet trading partner needs or
protection of the nation’s food supply. U.S. FDA Commissioner destination market law. Barcode on label printing, barcode on package
Stephen Hahn said the New Era plan begins a new journey for printing or barcode inline printing, a production cost for each method
food safety in terms of using new technology and other is different depends on the production difficulty.
tools to help digitize food supply chain. Tech-enabled
traceability one of the core four strategic areas
will allow the U.S. FDA and food supply
chain stakeholders to address a key
challenge in recent years:
recurring outbreaks of illnesses
related to the consumption of
certain foods. Greater use of
technology will enable faster
tracing of contaminated food to
its source in minutes, not days,
weeks, or even longer.

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