Food Processors: Does My Operation Need Traceability?

Traceability is the process of tracking an identified product (and its attributes) as it moves between locations. Traceability can apply to any product or living organism, from food to automobile parts.

For you, the food processor, a traceability system improves business management practices and lowers costs through:

• effective inventory control
• production planning
• satisfaction of buyer demand

A traceability system will also provide the tools to minimize the costs of a product recall, if one is needed.

Why does my operation need a traceability system?

Most small and medium sized businesses know:

• where their products came from
• what was done on site
• where their products are going or who they sold them to immediately after they leave their facility

However, more and more often processors are asked to provide records of these facts. For example, a foreign market may require documentation. Even local customers may want proof of due diligence. Or, a processor may be asked to justify a claim on a particular product.

For you, the processor, a traceability system records these key elements:

• Product identification (and related attributes). Examples include: lot number, production date
  
  
• Identification of premises. Examples include; processing plants, abattoirs, warehouses and other sites that handle products
  
  
• Recording movements of product between premises. Example: from a processing facility to retail

Does traceability apply to me? Four questions to ask

1. Are you ready to improve the profitability of your operation through more efficient business management practices?
   
   
2. How quickly and accurately could you tell a customer how one of your products was produced? When? And with what ingredients?
   
   
3. Do you have accurate information at your fingertips on all products shipped from your facility?
   
   
4. If there were a disease outbreak or a product recall, could you produce the above information in a way that would lower a potential threat to your customers and the reputation of your business or your industry?