Why is traceability important?

The identification of the origin of feed and food ingredients and food sources is of prime importance for the protection of consumers, particularly when products are found to be faulty. Traceability facilitates the withdrawal of foods and enables consumers to be provided with targeted and accurate information concerning implicated products.

It assures a way of controlling processes in order to assure the safety of the food products and prevent a decease from spreading. Even if the first infected animals are detected, with traceability of a given production you can trace back to find where it originated and take appropiate measures to erradicate the sickness.

A number of players of the food industry are aware of the risks – for public health and for themselves – associated with the absence of, or with an insufficient, traceability. They have been conducting for many years self-control, for instance with the HACCP analysis (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point), as recommended by the American FDA (Food & Drug Administration).

The recent crisis, mainly in the meat sector (mad cow, dioxine chicken, etc.), and their enormous impact on the European Union’s budget, have conducted the European authorities to impose traceability obligations to the whole food industry, via the regulation (CE) N° 178/2002.
That regulation, which defines goals and obligations, describes traceability as “ the ability to trace and follow food, feed, and ingredients through all stages of production, processing and distribution."

The Regulation got into effect in the 1st of January 2005 and it covers all food and feed, all food and feed business operators, without prejudice to existing legislation on specific sectors such as beef, fish, GMOs etc. Importers are similarly affected as they will be required to identify from whom the product was exported in the country of origin. Unless specific provisions for further traceability exist, the requirement for traceability is limited to ensuring that businesses are at least able to identify the immediate supplier of the product in question and the immediate subsequent recipient, with the exemption of retailers to final consumers (one step back-one step forward).

This is why, among other reasons, the producers are finding ways of managing their production-related information through software or data-logging technology and the retailers are currently certifying their suppliers, following the BRC (British Retail Consortium) or IFS (International Food Standards) criteria.

In theory, the latest interpretation of the law states that each player of the food industry – the multinational with over 1.000 people as well as the family company with 3 persons – will have to be able to trace back within 4 hours the origin of the batches he treated.