Knowing the origin of food is important for a certain segment of consumers, especially in developed countries. This trend will gradually gain strength until it becomes a basic requirement.

The demand for traceability of agricultural products has increased significantly in recent years, mainly because of the steady increase in outbreaks of microbial contamination tied to certain fresh foods. These outbreaks affect consumer confidence and generate negative consequences for the entire production and marketing chain.

Thus, agricultural traceability is becoming more and more essential. It’s not surprising that laws are emerging to regulate the issue, since customers want to be confident that the food they eat won’t cause health problems. 

It is really important to highlight that, today, thanks to technological advances in other industries, we already have the necessary tools to establish strong traceability systems that cannot be breached.

What is food traceability and why is it important?

The term traceability of food products is relatively recent, emerging in 1996 as a government response to the demands made by certain groups of consumers in specific developed countries.

According to the United Nations’ Codex Alimentarius Commission, traceability is “the ability to follow the movement of a food through specified stage(s) of production, processing and distribution.” 

The goal is to prevent products that do not meet safety specifications from being sold. Additionally, if a public health problem arises, a product can be traced to determine its origin and distribution, allowing it to be withdrawn from the market as quickly as possible and avoiding additional harm to consumers. 

Although food traceability guidelines have been applied for a long time, especially in developed countries, there are still many improvements to be made. And we must consider that, in the vast majority of developing countries, traceability is at an early stage, so there is still a lot of work to be done.

What tools exist to enable traceability in agriculture?

Although, in essence, traceability of agricultural products implies basic concepts that are easy to understand, implementation is more complex. It requires the collection and documentation of information during each stage of a product’s supply chain. The major hurdle is that there is currently no standard that covers all stages of the supply chain. 

In the future, if a customer wants to know where a food product that they consume regularly comes from, they should be able to access key information about the supply chain. This would include information such as the origin of the seed, the planting process, agronomic operations, fertilization, irrigation, the method of harvest, region of production, transport, intermediaries, place and method of storage, and water footprint. 

Although food traceability guidelines have been applied for a long time, especially in developed countries, there are still many improvements to be made. And we must consider that, in the vast majority of developing countries, traceability is at an early stage, so there is still a lot of work to be done.

What tools exist to enable traceability in agriculture?

Although, in essence, traceability of agricultural products implies basic concepts that are easy to understand, implementation is more complex. It requires the collection and documentation of information during each stage of a product’s supply chain. The major hurdle is that there is currently no standard that covers all stages of the supply chain. 

In the future, if a customer wants to know where a food product that they consume regularly comes from, they should be able to access key information about the supply chain. This would include information such as the origin of the seed, the planting process, agronomic operations, fertilization, irrigation, the method of harvest, region of production, transport, intermediaries, place and method of storage, and water footprint. 

Source: https://www.thepacker.com