Why Standards Improve Food Safety

Because food sources are global, and food manufacturers commingle ingredients from a variety of suppliers, you don’t really know where the food you are consuming came from, how it was grown or made, or how it was shipped to your market.

That is why having a traceability system in place is so important to ensure food safety. Being able to quickly track ingredients, from the farm to the consumer, is essential. Such systems improve the quality of food, allow access to product data, and provide better inventory control. The benefits are fewer recalls and safer food.

But how do you start to implement such a system? Already, there are initiatives in place to help you. The Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) is a plan endorsed by many companies in the produce supply chain. The plan endorses a common standard for electronic produce traceability by the end of 2012. The Product Traceability Initivative (PTI) uses a standardized system of case barcoding for all produce sold in the United States to allow product tracking throughout the distribution chain.

Using the GS1 standards that are already widely used for product identification and supply chain standards, PTI has created a standardized system of case barcoding for all produce sold in the United States. Since the GS1 standards  are built upon global standards, there is immediate access to product data, no matter where the food came from or where it ends up.

Oh, if you need to print complaint labels for Produce Traceability Initiative, we have made a label template for BarTender that includes the tricky Voice Code. Give us a call at 603-598-1553 and we’ll happily send you a copy.