Fighting Food Fraud with Traceability

I was reading this interesting article on seafood fraud and traceability in The Wall Street Journal the other day.

I had no idea of the scale of fraud in the food industry (not just seafood) which is estimated to cost $10 billion a year in the US alone. Add to this the current issues in the EU with horsemeat being substituted for beef in lots of products and it is easy to see that a real traceability system based on International Standards is desperately needed.

The GS1 Traceability Standard is already in use in many industries and provides the way that real traceability can be implemented.

GS1 has guidelines for traceability in the wine business, healthcare, fresh produce and is also working with the National Fisheries Institute here in the US to produce the Seafood Traceability Implementation Guide.

Would a robust traceability solution have prevented the European horsemeat scandal? Possibly, since tracking the meat from the animal to the consumer would certainly show where the incorrect product was introduced into the supply chain.  It would certainly help with tracking down the criminals responsible for this.

How can Winco ID help with food traceability?

For anyone looking to implement GS1 traceability labeling into their operation, there is a lot we can do to help. As a label manufacturer, we can provide labels that are just right for these applications, along with the printers, ribbons and software needed for GS1 compliance. For many industries we have sets of label templates available and our technicians can get everything set up and working properly in the shortest timeframe.

Need help with traceability labeling? Give me a call at 603-598-1553 and we’ll help you get started.

Oh, I was actually surprised to learn that those pre-made burgers and meal actually contained any real meat at all!