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Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Importance Of Food Traceability Software Systems

By Della Monroe


Food products are manufactured in large volumes these days. The mass production of foodstuffs means that millions of products are produced and transported in bulk consignments. This makes the individual checking and handling of each product impossible. Yet there are instances where a defective product is manufactured or the food starts to become a hazard to the consumer's health. In such cases, the manufacturer needs to be able to track the product, and they can use food traceability software systems to do this.

The two primary reasons for problems with food products are that they are either too old to be sold or they are a health hazard to the public. When a product is legally too old to be on the market, this does not automatically mean that it is unhealthy. It simply means that the legal expiry date has passed. The product is then not permitted to be on the shelf. The retailer is not allowed to sell it, even though it is still fit for consumption.

But the other reason is more serious. One would expect this to be limited to the perishable products like fresh fruit and vegetables and dairy, but even tinned foods and long-storage cereals suffer from the issue of decomposition. Once this has set in, the product is genuinely useless and cannot be consumed, let alone sold.

In order to track down all of these different products, manufacturers can use software systems to record and track a batch or consignment. They can then identify each batch and try to pinpoint its location so as to remove the products from the shelf.

On their own side, the public can also take measures to protect themselves from expired or unhealthy products. The tracing system is not infallible, and products might not be accurately tagged. The expiry date on a product might not be correct, and this might not even be by accident. The date may not have been accurate to start with, or it might have been updated later to prolong the shelf presence of the item.

Canned goods are especially easy to check by the consumer because the metal changes shape as the product goes off. If the can is inflated, the contents are rotting, which may also mean that air has entered into the can. If the can is at all dented, punctured or rusted then it should not be purchased.

Other long-term storage items are also susceptible to expiry and decomposition. This issue arises where the product is designed for this purpose, such as where it is advertised as a "long-life" product. These products sometimes are stored for a very long time, even one or two years. This does not make them immune to expiry and where they have expired and the retailer is still insisting on selling them to the public, the manufacturer or the authorities can be contacted.

The flavor or quality of the product is not the only consideration when it comes to expired food products. Public health is important and expired foodstuffs can cause disease and death. These products should be detected and removed from the market as a matter of course.




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