Electronic Traceability on Every Case of Produce by 2012

The Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) is an industry-led effort with representatives from more than 30 companies from a broad cross section of the produce supply chain including retailers, foodservice buyers, and produce suppliers. The initiative was launched by the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA), and United Fresh Produce Association. The three trade associations came together when each organization recognized the need for greater progress in implementing a consistent whole-chain traceability solution.

The PTI is focused on enhancing produce traceability throughout the supply chain as well as helping the produce industry maximize traceback procedures and standardize its traceability practices. Ensuring industry-wide adoption of GS1 standards at the foundation of the PTI. The RFID Network host, Louis Sirico, had the opportunity to talk with Angela Fernandez, GS1 US, about the PTI, food safety standards, and using bar codes & EPC RFID for fresh produce.

Angela Fernandez, GS1 US, talks about food and safety standards

Related information: Produce Traceability Initiative RFID Standards 101 ISO RFID Standards: A Complete List

Food and Safety

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by President Obama on January 4th, 2011. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it. Every year, 1 out of 6 people in the United States—48 million people--suffers from foodborne illness, more than a hundred thousand are hospitalized, and thousands die. FDA has a legislative mandate to require comprehensive, prevention-based controls across the food supply. The legislation enacts important food safety enhancements including inspection and compliance, imported food safety, and gives the FDA mandatory recall authority for all food products.

PTI members recognize the human and economic costs of a foodborne illness outbreak are too high, and consumer confidence in the safety of fresh produce has already suffered too much to wait any longer to implement industry-wide changes. Implementation is underway but it will take months to years before the full benefits of the FSMA are fully in effect. In the interim, industry has opportunities to provide feedback to the FDA, including demonstrating a working traceability system. The PTI solution is based on global standards that have been proven to work throughout other supply chains.

The PTI Action Plan for Implementation

There are seven milestones to implementation identified in the PTI Action Plan:

1. Obtain Company Prefix
2. Assign Global Trade Identification (GTIN) numbers
3. Provide GTIN Information to Buyers
4. Show Human-Readable Information on Cases
5. Encode Information in a Bar code
6. Read and Store Information on Inbound Cases (Receiving)
7. Read and Store Information on Outbound Cases (Shipping)

The PTI has assembled implementation resources specific to each milestone and made them available on the website.

PTI Implementation is Underway

In May, the PTI completed a survey of member companies that found that 79 percent of those companies are at an overall state of readiness. Specifically, 94 percent of grower/packer/shipper members, 82 percent of retailer members, 71 percent of wholesaler/broker members and 70 percent of foodservice members report that they are on track to achieve all PTI milestones by the target completion date of 2012. Further, no systemic issues to implementing the PTI were identified by council members, and working groups are already addressing the implementation challenges that members identified.

Beyond PTI, RFID Improves Produce Food Safety, Quality, and Freshness

The PTI is using GS1 standards, such as GTIN, bar code, and human readable information on cases of produce. Going beyond the PTI, there are produce growers, producers and co-ops using RFID technology to improve visibility for identifying, categorizing, tracking and monitoring the temperature condition of their fresh produce inventory from harvest to the retailer.

RFID provides wireless automated data collection to collect produce location and condition throughout the entire supply chain (field, truck, rail, warehouse, loading dock, store, and more) – without unpacking the pallet or unloading the trailer. This ensures quality, maximize shelf life as well as increased customer satisfaction and brand value and requires little to no labor.

It’s estimated that $35 billion of perishable foods go to waste each year. Half of this shrink is temperature-related and experienced in-transit between the producer and the grocer where even a 4° F variance in storage temperature can reduce shelf life by 30%. It’s also important to track product in the event of a recall. The lack of on-demand visibility of a product’s location and condition leads to lost revenue and prevents growers and processors from implementing FEFO (First Expiry, First Out) inventory management.

To optimize shelf life, the storage temperature of the perishables needs to be consistently and accurately monitored in-transit at the carton or pallet level. Monitoring the ambient temperature inside a trailer or warehouse is inadequate as temperatures can fluctuate significantly depending on the storage location: one pallet could be kept at the proper temperature while an adjacent pallet could be several degrees warmer or colder. And, even if the produce arrives at its destination at the proper temperature, legacy environmental monitoring systems provide no way of knowing if it has been consistently stored properly or experienced variations that impact quality, risking your reputation and revenues.

Battery-Assisted Passive RFID Temperature Monitoring Tag

Battery-Assisted Passive (BAP) RFID Temperature Monitoring Tags from Intelleflex, based on the ISO C3 (ISO/IEC 18000-6:2010) and the GS1 EPCglobal Gen 2 Class 1 protocols, combined with extended memory (60kbits) for data storage, and a microcontroller temperature sensing application, are already providing many of the capabilities companies need for tracking and monitoring fresh produce. The tag can be configured to sample the ambient or in-container air temperature at intervals at a rate between every one (1) minute and every five (5) days. It supports up to 3,600 temperature samples that can be logged in the secure sensor memory.

The re-usable temperature monitoring RFID tags are placed inside each pallet or carton at harvest in the field. They record and store a complete temperature history of the perishables, from the field to the store, directly from the tag. The RFID tags can be read in-transit at any point without unpacking the container – enabling real-time decision making. The in-transit temperature data visibility RFID provides allows companies to optimize the management of the remaining shelf life of perishables and implement FEFO inventory management. Companies can quickly reroute products with a shorter shelf life to nearby locations and products with a longer shelf life to more distant locations – ensuring better product quality. It also provides the ability to accept or reject specific pallets and cartons at the distribution center and at the store. This maximizes the value of harvested produce in a way never before possible.

Unlike bar codes, RFID tags can be automatically and reliably read while inside packaging. They are also built to withstand extreme temperatures, moisture, and dust conditions. If you're not familiar with BAP RFID tags and the capabilities, we encourage you to read our section on Battery-Assisted Passive (BAP) RFID Tags.

RFID Reduces Risks for Fresh Produce

Insurance company Hartford Financial Services Group now recommends that its customers employ Intelleflex's RFID system for tracking fresh produce and monitoring the conditions in which it is transported throughout the supply chain. Using RFID to reduce the risk of spoiled produce reaching consumers may qualify companies for discounts on their insurance or obtain policies they would otherwise not qualify for. RFID technology helps Hartford and its clients clients in order to gain a greater understanding of supply chain conditions at the time that loss of product occurred due to spoilage. Intelleflex has more details published on their website.

Because the temperature monitoring tags help reduce food waste, the product can essentially pay for itself through the prevention of shrink.  One case study demonstrated a payback of approximately four months – that is, within a single growing season. As a result, producers can cost-effectively reduce shrink in the cold chain while helping to ensure quality and brand value.