Embrace food safety technology

During the first two weeks of April, more than a dozen food recalls were recorded on FoodSafety.gov for reasons such as undeclared allergens, potential bacteria contamination, and potential foreign-matter contamination. Understandably, recalls of this nature could make consumers question the safety of their frozen meal, can of peas or loaf of bread.

For retailers, a store brand recall could have particularly serious ramifications, too. Consumers could assume that a retailer’s private brand products throughout the store are unsafe based on the recall of just one private label item.

To enhance food safety and quality assurance and to help put consumers at ease, many companies now offer retailers new technologies to protect own-brand products as they make their way through the supply chain. This article will examine some of the newest of those technologies.

Catch safety issues earlier

Retailers could improve the safety of store brand products by making good use of supply chain management software. For instance, SafetyChain Software’s FSQA Operating System aggregates data from supply chain control input and food safety and quality operations, including data from the receiving docks, supplier inspections, supplier audits, supplier questionnaires and supplier compliance maintenance program statistics. The software integrates the data and important documents within a central repository that is then available to retailers for viewing. The software is meant to help retailers catch and manage issues earlier and engage in score-carding, benchmarking, root cause analysis and identification of areas for improvement, states Jill Bender, vice president of marketing for the San Rafael, Calif.-headquartered software provider.

SafetyChain offers food safety program management tools to ensure the in-store production of food such as ready-to-eat prepared foods adheres to food safety standards as well. Food safety data are collected via device integrations such as probes or refrigeration units. The data are then analyzed in real time and compared to industry requirements. The retailer is then immediately alerted when any nonconformance is discovered — for example, when temperature levels of deli displays or hot buffet displays are higher or lower than industry standards, Bender says.

Make recalls easier

In the unfortunate event that a recall is necessary, ReposiTrak’s Track & Trace platform can quickly identify product ingredients and their supply chain path. It can also reduce risk within the supply chain by identifying backward-chaining sources and forward-chaining recipients in “near real time,” says Randy Fields, CEO of the wholly owned subsidiary of Salt Lake City-based Park City Group. Currently, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires each recipient of a product within the supply chain to know where the product originated and where it went.

“We help our customers take an ‘active approach’ to managing their compliance,” he adds.

Retailers have traditionally used a questionnaire to gauge whether or not their private label suppliers are meeting their obligations when it comes to food safety. Under the FSMA, however, that questionnaire will no longer be sufficient, Fields adds.

“Other systems depend on the voluntary self-management of suppliers; however, that is a passive approach,” he states. “Without constant contact and follow-up, our customers’ suppliers will fall out of compliance and increase their brand risk. Our active approach includes a dedicated team that helps customers reduce non-compliance by 70 percent among new suppliers within the first six months.”

The ReposiTrak system reviews documents for accuracy and compliance and then notifies the retailer and vendors if any issues are found. The system can also reduce the retailer’s risk by confirming compliance related to required documentation — for instance, insurance coverage and audits — before a new vendor agreement is signed and the first purchase order is sent out, he adds.

Forecast fresh-recipe ingredients

With grocery retailers’ increased focus on fresh food preparation, fresh-item management is becoming more important. But to appeal to consumers, retailers need to address customer concerns regarding transparency, both in terms of the freshness and the health benefits of the products they sell. To drive margins, retailers need to be able to manage recipe ingredients in the same way they handle the rest of their inventory, says Donal Mac Daid, president of supply chain, Symphony GOLD, Atlanta.

To help retailers out, Symphony GOLD offers a software platform called Fresh Item Management. It gives retailers the ability to optimize the ordering and management of recipe ingredients through the entire supply chain, from farm to table, Mac Daid states. The software is an inventory management and replenishment engine that can be used to forecast the consumption of specific recipes, ensuring demand is met while keeping food waste at a minimum. It allows for variations in consumer consumption habits, seasonal availability of ingredients, and evolving food regulations and requirements. In addition, cost analysis, nutritional information, food safety and forecasting are all linked directly to the entire supply chain via the company’s GOLD platform.

Prevent food fraud

The Grocery Manufacturer’s Association estimates that the U.S. food industry loses approximately $10 to $15 billion annually to food fraud. (One of the most famous food fraud cases occurred outside the United States: the 2013 horse meat scandal overseas in the UK.)

To do their best to prevent a food fraud scandal, retailers could work with SGS, a global inspection, verification, testing and certification company. Recently, SGS announced that it partnered with Biopremier, a specialist in molecular and DNA sequencing, to reduce food fraud, verify authenticity and improve traceability and food safety.

Biopremier’s technology allows retailers to identify food components faster, more efficiently and without the risks of false positives. The technology can test products such as meat and poultry, fish, seafood, plants and vegetables, tea, coffee, spices, bacteria, molds/fungi and even allergens. Using DNA sequencing, a single test can analyze and identify the full biological content of a food sample — for example, all of the meat species that are present within a hamburger.