Food producers don’t know the law

THERE remains a serious lack of awareness among food producers about their legal obligations, nearly four months after a new EU food law required every food manufacturer and supplier to keep detailed records of their supply chains.

That’s according to Sandra Lenihan of the Technology Transfer Initiative at University College Cork.

She says the traceability stipulated by the new EU regulation should be welcomed by the industry, as another step forward in protecting their valuable consumers.

A successful workshop was hosted recently by the Technology Transfer Initiative and Advanced Media Technology Ireland in UCC, entitled “Food Traceability: what you need to know.”

All food suppliers must now demonstrate ability to trace the history, application or location of an item or activity, by means of recorded identification. Subsequently, producers must be able to identify products by batch, lot or consignment numbers. In sum mary, traceability of a product must be possible at all stages of production, processing and distribution. In the event of a food recall, a traceability system will assist in accurately targeting product for withdrawal from the supply chain, rapidly and effectively.

Though internal traceability within a food organisation is not a requirement of the EU regulation, it is recommended.

Two primary methods are currently used to record details of a compliant traceability system, according to Technology Transfer Initiative.

A paper-based system is cheap to implement, but expensive to maintain, due to intensive labour costs.

Also, it can be difficult to retrieve required information, as paper systems can be very complicated.

Information technology recording systems are expensive to install, but economical to maintain.

To complete an information technology system, various track and trace enablers, such as Barcode and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), are available to food producers.

Companies with effective traceability systems not only comply with the new EU law. They also benefit from productivity and efficiency gains, through tight control over supply chains, and reductions in inventory or stock.

Food traceability also provides a prompt system for the instant recall of a defective product, thus ensuring that brand integrity of a product is intact and not compromised.

In essence, it is a risk management tool that can protect the food organisation from negative fallout, if unfavourable situations arise.