Food Logistics

MAR 2015

Food Logistics serves the entire food supply chain industry with targeted content for manufacturers, retailers, and distributors.

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24 MARCH 2015 • FOOD LOGISTICS www.foodlogistics.com batch-level informa- tion that can be traced electronically, Fernandez says. Major food retailers, includ- ing Walmart, quickly requested PTI imple- mentation for their supply chains. Retailers, wholesal- ers and manufacturers have all benefitted from PTI, Fernandez says. By giving a company the means to trace a specific product in the supply chain, the shipper can pull a product without having to remove more products than necessary. Because the standard provides identi- fication for each individual case, it is not neces- sary to remove cases of product unaffected in the event of a recall or withdrawal. Since the produce industry has embraced GS1 standards, other fresh food sectors such as meat and poultry have followed, Fernandez says. "It's the perimeter of the grocery store that has more recently recognized how GS1 standards can enhance traceability capabilities as well as provide category management," she says, refer- ring to the section of the grocery store that mer- chandises perishable products. GS1 standards make whole-chain traceabil- ity possible due to the fact that they provide interoperability between existing systems and solutions, on a global scale – no matter how many companies are involved or how many bor- ders are crossed as food and ingredients travel from one end of the supply chain all the way to the consumer, Fernandez says. Traceability addresses recalls Traceability is especially important if some- thing goes wrong and products must be recalled. Recent legislation in the European Union requires manufacturers to inform authorities and consumers of any risk to consumers from their products. Many other countries are also reviewing food traceability rules. Meanwhile, growers, producers and manu- facturers, eager to protect their brands from the harm done by tainted materials or poorly-man- aged recalls, are boosting their internal recall policies and methodologies. GS1 standards, because they are global, reaching from one end of the supply chain to the other, ensure immediate access to accurate product information, which enables swift, com- prehensive recalls. Independent Purchas- ing Cooperative (IPC), a SUBWAY franchisee- owned purchasing coop- erative for more than 30,000 SUBWAY restau- rants, saw GS1 as a tool to improve traceability and reduce time to com- pile information for product recalls. IPC officials described the steps they used in adopting GS1 while speaking at last year's International Food- service Distributors Association (IFDA) solu- tions conference in Indianapolis, Ind. Since adopting the GS1 standards, the com- pany has learned that "enhanced product trace- ability will be the end result of following the standards," says Rick Buttner, IPC's director of quality and supply chain risk. "Once the traceability GS1 standards are in place, we will be able to trace product to the restaurant level," says Lucelena Angarita, qual- ity/GS1 program manager of IPC. In addition, there will be fewer operational disruptions at restaurants, less discarded product, and poten- tially fewer product "outages" which can result in lost sales. Warehouse management systems are integrat- ing GS1 standards. Prism Logistics has had the ability to scan Old Dominion simplifi es global shipping by doing more than delivering freight. Our focus on premium service means every shipment arrives with one of the lowest claims ratios and one of the best on-time records in the industry. Old Dominion Freight Line, the Old Dominion logo, OD Household Services and Helping The World Keep Promises are service marks or registered service marks of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks identifi ed herein are the intellectual property of their respective owners. © 2015 Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., Thomasville, N.C. All rights reserved. Elements Of A Recall Action Plan H aving a well-understood recall action plan streamlines the process of removing any unsafe product from the market. "Traceability For Dummies" offers the following steps for what to do in the event of a recall. 1 Assemble your recall team. 2 Notify any required regulatory bodies. 3 Identify all products to be recalled. 4 Detain and segregate all products to be recalled that are in your control. 5 Prepare external communications such as press releases (if required). 6 Prepare the distribution list for your external com- munication (for example, press, supply-chain, and so on). 7 Prepare and distribute the notice of recall. 8 Quarantine the recalled product(s) . 9 Decide what to do with the recalled product(s). 10 Fix the cause of the recall if the problem occurred at your facility. 1 1 Verify the effectiveness of the recall.

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