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Traceability - What does re-traceability in the food chain mean
Re-traceability in the food chain has been a point of discussion for some time now and is consistently pertinent to food safety: but what does re-traceability really mean?
We should at this juncture make a distinction between "Re-traceability" and "Traceability" in the food chain, because there is a difference.
"Traceability" is the process that identifies the product "from the field to the table", and registers information on each process.
"Re-traceability" reconstructs the history of the product "from the table to the field" by means of a systematic review of traceable information.
All this is crucially important in food safety especially when we consider that what ends up on our dining tables is the fruit of the work of many companies, each of which is responsible for just one production phase.
For example, the aged cheese sold over the cheese counter of a cheese monger or at the supermarket has been distributed and marketed. The company that then packages the chesse is responsible for the way it is cut, and so on.
The packager is supplied by the company that ages the cheese made in the dairy.
The dairy is supplied with milk by milk producers that rear the animals who are supplied with fodder, and so on.
The dairy cow breeders produce the milk, the dairy, the affineur (or cheese ager), packager and distributor are all part of the food chain, in other words they "work together to produce, distribute and market one product".
So now we can fully understand the importance of re-traceability, particularly when the safety of food is in question. It in fact enables us to efficiently withdraw from sale an offending product and give an accurate explanation to consumers and quality control professionals.
The EU Regulation 178/02 on re-traceability has been operative since 1st January 2005. It applies to both food products and operators working in the food chain supply.
The San Paolo Dairy has furthermore opted for a voluntary certification regarding re-traceability, provision UNI EN 10939, that entails provisions beyond those required by law. It places greater demands in the area of food safety.
