Fighting foodborne illness

In a move that would reshape the Food and Drug Administration, President Obama has proposed bringing together the country's food safety operations into one agency to better monitor food quality. The new agency would combine the food safety responsibilities of the FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies. Obama’s proposal was put forward as part of his 2016 budget plan.

The objective of a single federal food safety agency would be to provide focused, centralized leadership, a primary voice on food safety standards and compliance with those standards, and clear lines of responsibility and accountability that will enhance both prevention of and responses to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.
 

The challenge

In order for produce organizations to meet, maintain and monitor their adherence to such food safety standards and regulations they will need to invest in their data collection and traceability processes and procedures. Additionally, they will need to adopt a flexible, proactive and agile way of working, which enables them to keep themselves protected and able to react quickly and efficiently in the event of a food safety crisis.

Readily available information on how and where food was manufactured, where the ingredients came from, and where the finished item ends up will be expected by retailers, consumers and food safety agencies. The keywords in President Obama’s objective are: focused, centralized, compliance, responsibility, accountability and prevention. These must also apply to any Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or traceability solution deployed to ensure compliance to the proposed standards.
 

Focused and centralized

A single, focused, centralized ERP and traceability solution provides one coherent record of the origins, movement, usage and destination of all produce throughout the entire supply chain. This data and information can then be shared to inform and drive all relevant areas of the business, such as; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) policy requirements, quality assurance and traceability or supply chain audits.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and dashboards can be set up to further monitor progress against goals and targets, and focus and drive personnel toward consistent achievement.

Supplier accreditation information, labeling requirements, shelf life, storage or transportation conditions, etc., can also be centrally held within the ERP solution and automatically applied as part of operational processes. Logistics and route optimization software can be used to dynamically plan trailer loads ensuring that the transportation conditions meet the required specification for variables such as temperature and packaging. Delivery routes can be optimized to ensure that the quickest and most efficient route from A to B is taken, reducing the time that food spends in transit.
 

Compliance and traceability

Awareness and understanding of sector specific and general food safety legislation or industry requirements are important elements in protecting a business.

Replacing manual tracking methods with software specifically designed for this industry ensures that information is available virtually instantaneously at every step of the process.

There are many other benefits to be gained from implementing a full electronic traceability solution, these include:

• Customer and consumer confidence can be enhanced and maintained.
• The scope and cost of recalls can be limited to suspect product allowing only non-implicated product to remain in distribution and on store shelves.
• Investigations can occur more efficiently, expediting tracking while minimizing business disruptions and costs.
• The information can be stored electronically throughout the supply chain, permitting electronic interrogation, analysis and sharing to inform other business areas.
  
   

Invest in food safety

Each and every element of a supply chain needs to work continuously, harmoniously and efficiently. This requires regular upgrades and replacement of outdated equipment. While this can be costly, the long term benefit will outweigh the short term expense.
 

Become flexible and agile

If a business is flexible and agile, it will be able to react rapidly to changing market conditions or customer requirements. A modern produce business will have eliminated time consuming and error prone paper based procedures, have well practiced “what if” scenarios in the event of a supply chain failure or emergency product withdrawal, and have back up contingency plans in place to maintain a near 100-percent order fulfillment record.
 

Educate

Everyone involved in the provision of a supply chain needs to be aware of all of the regulatory and self-administered food safety policies and requirements, their importance, and the consequences of failure to comply. Regular staff training and performance assessment is critical to providing a safe and efficient food supply chain and a high level of customer satisfaction.
 

Assess

How did your food business stack up? Is it a proactive or reactive organization? Are processes and procedures adequate or are there gaps to fill? This advice, along with an ERP solution, can serve as an important starting point for success in today’s information-driven highly regulated marketplace.

Carl Iversen is the vice president of product development at LINKFRESH.