Potential Tools for a More Digital, Traceable Food System

Consumers are looking for information, such as the raising conditions of, labor conditions for farmworkers, information about the farmer who produced the product, or details about an ingredient and its purpose in a product, to be presented and shared in a single application, Lyons adds.

Synchronizing Platforms

In addition to addressing the specific needs of primary producers, importers, manufacturers, processors, distributors, retailers, and foodservice establishments, solutions will have to allow for data sharing across platforms used by various segments of the food supply chain, which could be challenging, Yiannas says.

Although synchronizing platforms is not an entirely new concept, it is new in the food sector, Bhatt says. For example, financial institutions synchronize across platforms, allowing consumers to use ATM cards in any ATM worldwide. Telecommunication organizations synchronize the transfer of voice, text, and data across platforms, enabling people to communicate with family, friends, and colleagues around the globe. For the food sector, there will need to be a similar process to develop global open standards.

Benefits Abound

Digitizing the supply chain will enable small- and medium-sized organizations to participate in the food ecosystem. After data is digitized, the next step will be to create transparency. “Retailers such as Walmart and its customers want to know where the food we sell comes from,” Bhatt says. “Simultaneously, growers can benefit from knowing where their food ends up in the supply chain, which will give them better market access.”

Finally, supply chain optimization will occur, through increased shelf life, reduced waste, improved quality, and ultimately, better customer satisfaction. “The important paradigm shift here is that instead of one type of stakeholder gaining all the benefits, the benefits can be shared across the supply chain or ecosystem,” Bhatt says.

Bryan Hitchcock, senior director of food chain and executive director of the Global Food Traceability Center at the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago, Ill., says the ability to improve public health by reducing foodborne illnesses will be one of traceability’s greatest benefits. “Developing and deploying low-cost and no-cost traceability tools will benefit everyone by increasing organization participation, improving data capture and sharing, and accelerating foodborne illness outbreak response,” he says.

Lyons says that the availability of more tools for traceability will assist food manufacturers of all sizes to track and trace foods in instances where a recall is necessary. These tools can also help pinpoint exactly what products should be recalled depending upon the depth of the traceability tools (i.e., specific ingredient tracing as well as finished product tracing). These traceability tools will also have the ancillary benefit of increasing transparency within the food system to benefit consumers.

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<h3>Examining the Blueprint for Smarter Food Safety</h3>

FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety created a blueprint for the application of technology and smarter tools, while harnessing the collective power of people. “Our food system is evolving rapidly, challenging all stakeholders to adapt,” says Bryan Hitchcock, senior director of food chain and executive director of the Global Food Traceability Center at the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago, Ill. “Creating an enduring regulatory framework which leverages and embraces the latest technology, while also addressing the human aspect of food safety, are critical to ensuring a safe and abundant future food supply.”

Here’s a closer look at the blueprint’s four pillars.

1. Tech-enabled traceability eventually will be a “system of systems” where each stakeholder in the food system will be free to choose whatever traceability solution works for them. However, Tejas Bhatt, MS, CFS, senior director of U.S. and Global Food Safety Innovation at Walmart Inc., in Bentonville, Ark., says that all solutions will need to speak the same language, allowing the data to flow from one system to another (with adequate protections) as food moves through the supply chain.
2. Smarter tools for prevention will use the data from tech-enabled traceability and other sources to better predict failure before it happens. “The aerospace and automotive industries already do this; there is no reason to believe that it can’t also be done in the food industry,” Bhatt says.
3. Retail modernization is happening now and was accelerated by the pandemic. “More of Walmart’s customers are shopping online and having their groceries picked up or delivered via the Walmart and Sam’s club app,” Bhatt says. “We’re better able to connect customers with the supply chain that served them their food, making epidemiological interviews and outbreak investigations easier and more accurate.”
4. A tech-enabled food safety culture can deliver the promise of creating awareness for, educating, and modifying the behaviors of all stakeholders of the food system, including customers, to ensure food safety. “Whether it’s through social media platforms or home automation, the ability to reach the population in a manner they want to be reached has never been easier,” Bhatt says.

Emily R. Lyons, JD, senior associate attorney working in the food and agribusiness industry group at Husch Blackwell LLP, in Washington, DC, sees the blueprint as two-fold. First, it’s a call for FDA and industry to implement existing technology and develop new technology to enhance food safety and communicate the safety of the U.S. food system. Second, it’s a chance for FDA to learn how to adapt its regulatory schemes and innovative business models such as the proliferation of food meal delivery companies.