ISO 22000: Traceability in Food Supply Chains /Evolution - I

Part I

ISO 22000 & Food Traceability

Tracebility is one of the major concerning events in food business today and it is highly regraded in all the food safety management systems where ISO 22000 has additional considerations. According to ISO 22000 traceability in supply chain is highly important as it exactly explains about the place and the specific activity in food supply chain is the key to develop ISO 22000 FSMS. On the other hand, ISO 22000 is instrumental in promoting traditional tracebility model where it requires one step backward and one step forward of the specific activity carried out by the manufacturer or any other actor. This is a series of posts which  will give you some understanding of the subject while introducing different requirements of tracebility systems and finally what are the specific requirements for ISO 22000 FSMS. Considering the extent of the different global initiatives, the set of articles will try to cover entire spectrum of the literature available for tracebility.    

Evolution

 The need for food supply chain traceability based on consumer concerns started at the end of the nineteenth century with the discoveries of microbes and vitamins and has followed the development of supply chains and production methods. This includes chemical progress in the form of new food additives and adulterations, and changes in packaging technology covering the acceptance of commercial canned and processed foods. This development has made food supply chains increasingly complex, moving the consumer farther away from raw material sources and conventional methods of receiving, retrieving, and controlling food and ingredients, which affects consumer purchasing behaviour. In addition, the interest for food supply chain traceability among producers and governmental authorities has increased in the last decade due to recall incidents, such as foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Great Britain, the tomato-salmonella scare in Florida, the mince meat scandal in Sweden, and reports about the impact of food production on living resources.

                                                                                              

Today a traceability system is considered to be a major priority and common tool of food industries and also forced by the regulations where all the food safety management systems require a traceability system included in it, i.e. ISO 22000 FSMS require a traceability system as a major concern where they additionally introduce ISO 22005: 2007 standard. According to EU Legislations, traceability is a way of responding to potential risks that can arise in food and feed, to ensure that all food products in the market are safe for consumers to eat. It is vital that when national authorities or food businesses identify a risk, where they can trace it back to its source in order to swiftly isolate the problem and prevent contaminated products from reaching consumers. In addition, traceability allows targeted withdrawals and the provision of accurate information to the public, thereby minimizing disruption to trade. Past food crises, such as dioxin contamination and BSE, have illustrated the particular importance of being able to swiftly identify and isolate unsafe foodstuffs in order to prevent them from reaching the consumer.

Legislative Requirements

Considering the legal requirements, most of the current general food law’s in each country force all businesses to make traceability compulsory for all food and feed manufacturers. It requires that all food and feed operators implement specific traceability systems. They must be able to identify where their products have come from and where they are going and to rapidly provide this information to the competent authorities. The legislative requirements enforce business operators to document the names and addresses of the supplier and customer in each case, as well as the nature of the product and date of delivery. Operators are also encouraged to keep information on the volume or quantity of a product, the batch number if there is one, and a more detailed description of the product, such as whether it is raw or processed.

In addition to the general requirements, sector-specific legislation applies to certain categories of food products (fruit and vegetables, beef, fish, honey, olive oil) thus consumers can identify their origin and authenticity. There are also special traceability rules for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which ensure that the GM content of a product can be traced and require accurate labeling so that consumers can make an informed choice. In the case of animals, producers must now “tag” everyone with details of their origin and, when animals are taken for slaughter, stamp them with the traceability code of the abattoir. The tools used (ear tags, passports, bar codes) may vary from one country to another but must carry the same information.