As consumers grow increasingly aware of the quality of the products they demand, food and beverage manufacturers are being constantly challenged to produce, trace and distribute top-quality products that are safe for human consumption.
Because foodstuff is consumed by humans, a seemingly small error at any stage of the food chain can have serious consequences on consumers’ health including severe illness and even death. 2011 saw two major outbreaks of food-borne disease including an E.coli outbreak in Germany that killed 50 people, and Listeria in the United States that killed at least 29 people.
As well as having the potential to cause severe human harm, breaching global food safety regulations and standards such as Food Standards Australia and New Zealand’s (FSANZ) Food Standard Code can result in harsh financial penalties and liability to the producer in the way of recalls and tainted reputation.
According to the Australian Department of Health in its 2006 report, The Annual Cost of Foodborne Illness in Australia, the total cost of foodborne illness in Australia is $1,249 million per year, with individual and business productivity and lifestyle costs together amounting to $771.6 million – costs that should and can be avoided.
Companies simply cannot afford to lose revenue due to lapses in safety and ensuing recalls. During the 10-year period between 2005 and 2014, FSANZ was notified of 586 food and beverage recalls. Regardless of whether these recalls were due to tampering, labelling or microbial contamination, recalls are detrimental not only financially to companies, but are also damaging to brand reputation within the industry and with consumers.
Therefore in order to remain competitive and maintain a reputable brand within today’s highly competitive global food and beverage industry, it is essential for companies to implement an appropriate traceability systems which offers complete documentation on the product's route through production, thereby allowing companies to minimize the scale of recalls.
Secure traceability to prevent recalls
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2002 along with the European Parliament and Council's adoption of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002, laid down the general principles of food law on a global level. This Regulation requires the food industry to establish systems to enable traceability of foodstuffs across all stages of production, processing, and distribution. In addition, food companies became responsible for recalling unsafe goods and products in order to prevent contamination of the food chain.
To allow companies to assess the causes of a contamination, they must be able to trace back the trajectory of their products from the producer, through the processing stages, to retailers.
Implementing identification solutions such as RFID technology, laser-based bar code scanners, and image-based code readers from SICK collects all the information necessary to reliably trace foodstuffs. This ability to trace and follow a food throughout its entire journey gives companies peace of mind and control over its products, reputation and the ability the function in adherence to stringent global safety standards.
For information on SICK’s range of products for product traceability, visit https://s.sick.com/au-en-safe-food-chain-track-and-trace