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A leading West Australian fresh produce company has created a proof of delivery system that it expects will be a "game-changer" by building confidence and greater transparency in the fruit and vegetable supply chain. The newly developed Australian app, ‘FreshFinder’ is set to benefit businesses worldwide…

Study from 6 industry orgs finds sample template speeds process

Apple or pear growers, packers, wholesalers and exporters interested in further digitising their end to end traceability systems are invited to take part in a traceability pilot being run by Australian owned and operated FreshChain Systems.  North Sydney-based FreshChain is leading a pilot traceability project…

Yesterday FDA released more resources to help stakeholders in understanding the FSMA Food Traceability proposed rule. The Risk-Ranking Model for Food Tracing is designed to help users learn more about the methods and criteria for scoring commodity-hazard pairs, along with the results of the scoring that are used to determine the foods included on the Food Traceability List [https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/food-traceability-list].

The agency also published a pre-recorded webinar about the proposed rule, featuring Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for food policy and response, and Angela Fields, a traceability expert with FDA’s Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network.

Other resources include a flowchart to assist with determining who is subject to the rule and a glossary of key terms.

If the pandemic has highlighted one thing for growers across North America, it is their relationship with labor. Given the challenges growers have seen this year in accessing labor for field/grove/orchard work or in packing houses, maintaining the health of workers and much more, it’s no surprise that…

Improving Traceability in Science (Part 1): 2 p.m. Eastern Oct. 27, sponsored by iFood Decision Sciences, with speakers Jennifer McEntire, vice president of food safety and technology at United Fresh and Minos Athanassiadis, vice president of iFood Decision Sciences; Meet Up with Food Safety Professionals Focused on Traceability: 2 p.m. Eastern Oct. 29, sponsored by Procurant; food safety professionals are invited to discuss traceability and network with colleagues; and Improving Traceability in Produce (Part 2): 2 p.m. Eastern Nov. 5, sponsored by iFood Decision Sciences, learn about the FDA’s proposed traceability rule.
 

The Florida Tomato Exchange recently launched TomatoMonitor.com, which allows individuals and companies in the tomato trade to report suspected violations of the Tomato Suspension Agreement. The new website is an important tool for the industry to self-monitor the agreement between Mexican fresh tomato…

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed new traceability rules that seek elevated record-keeping for many fresh produce items, from all fresh-cut products to leafy greens and tomatoes.

Information on the rule is at https://bit.ly/2G0CG49. Frank Yiannas, FDA deputy commissioner for food policy and response, said the plan is a catalyst for change for greater traceability and transparency.

A public comment period on the new rule will be open until Jan. 21. on the Federal Register, https://bit.ly/305yVBf. The rule is a key component of the FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety and implements the long-awaited Section 204 of Food Safety Modernization Act.

Yiannas said it’s designed to allow the record-keeping process to ease investigations. The FDA will still allow paper records, but all companies in the supply chain should be able to submit an electronic spreadsheet containing traceability information within 24 hours.

“More generally, the FDA encourages all food businesses to maintain their traceability records electroni-cally whenever possible, to expedite the identification of traceability information when needed to address threats to public health,” according to an FDA news release.

The FDA has proposed a new rule that lays the foundation for the end-to-end food traceability across the food industry that it will be working toward over the next decade as part of the New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative.

The FDA defines traceability as “the ability to track a food at every step of the supply chain.” While limited to certain foods, this proposed rule would create a first-of-its-kind standardized approach to traceability recordkeeping, paving the way for industry to adopt and leverage more digital, tech-enabled traceability systems both in the near term and the future.

Dynamic Systems Inc., Bellevue, Wash., has launched a lower-cost version of its SIMBA traceability system designed for smaller produce growers and packers.

SIMBA (Simple Inventory Management Barcode Accuracy) Lite can be implemented for less than $10,000, according to a news release, giving smaller companies accessibility to higher levels of traceability and inventory systems.

SIMBA Lite addresses several needs for small growers and packers, according to the release, including:

Traceability/labeling requirements: The system is Produce Traceability Initiative-compliant, preparing serialized case and pallet labels that include type, grade, size, weight and other information; Inventory and shipping tracking: The system provides a perpetual stock inventory as products are shipped; and Ability to upgrade: Users can upgrade with SIMBA Logistics, a mobile app that uses barcodes to track inventory in a warehouse, and SIMBA Pro, which brings label printing onto the plant food for real-time inventory and production information.

Key results include accuracy, end-to-end traceability and PTI compliance, according to the release.

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Sinclair manufactures produce labels and labelling equipment for produce companies around the globe. The company has label-manufacturing sites in ten different countries and labelling machines installed in more than 45. All these countries have been impacted by COVID-19 to some extent. “As the…

The Produce Traceability Initiative, consisting of CPMA, GS1 US, PMA, and United Fresh, and its many volunteer industry members, announced the release of four new or improved tools to support traceability implementation: Canada/U.S. Harmonized Case Label Template for Sharing Traceback Data with regulators…