Will Advanced Trace-Back Systems Improve Efficiency Of Contaminated Food Recalls?

Food safety scares and the spate of expensive recalls in the past year have pushed food producers to work with computer companies to implement digital tracing technologies to follow produce as it travels from farm to grocery store. The technologies go beyond bar coding to include sophisticated trace-back systems that use “smart labels.” Though many farmers are reluctant to abandon manual tracking because of the expense involved, everyone agrees something has to be done: the current system of tracking contaminated foods is slow, inaccurate, cumbersome and wasteful. The lack of guidance from the federal government on traceability standards is another problem, so many expect food retailers to pressure food producers to at least adopt the U.S./Canada Produce Traceability Initiative as a step in the right direction.