World Food Safety Day sheds light on barriers to traceable food systems

07 Jun 2023 --- Much of the world’s food is not traceable – a paradigm that food agencies worldwide aim to change in the coming years to improve public health. Upcoming US FDA legislation and a new toolbox released by the FAO today, on the occasion of World Food Safety Day, are two initiatives that aim to reduce foodborne illness. Unsafe food afflicts 600 million people per year, according to the FAO.

Some of the biggest challenges to achieving traceable food systems are logistical, such as seamless data sharing between different software tools without human intervention or “interoperability,” according to a new report from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), which was commissioned by the FDA. 

Harmonized legislation is also lacking and will be needed to establish clear standards, stresses the report. 

“Traceability is critically important to food safety; better, faster and more reliable traceability can help to reduce the time and scale of recalls and identify the root cause of foodborne illness outbreaks,” Blake Harris, technical director of the Global Food Traceability Center, IFT, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

As the world’s food systems are increasingly under stress from climate change and inflationary pressures, interventions for food safety are more vital than ever.

Seamless data exchange between software is one the main hurdles to full food traceability, observes IFT.Reaching lower-income nations 
At the same time, the FAO is taking steps to improve food safety in emerging economies with its new toolbox based on the Codex Alimentarius, a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice managed by FAO and the WHO. 

“There is a direct correlation between situations of food scarcity and increased threats to food safety,” writes the FAO. “When food is scarce, people will go to great lengths to keep themselves and their families fed.”

The FAO’s new toolbox aims to educate food producers and vendors by translating the extensive set of guidelines governing its Good Hygiene Practices and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point into easily digestible information via its website. 

“[The new toolbox] provides not only the internationally agreed upon principles of food safety but also sets a common language, which in turn provides a framework and a commonality within which countries can negotiate and food businesses can communicate on food safety amongst themselves,” adds Corinna Hawkes, FAO’s director of food systems and food safety division.

Special care was taken to consider the challenges faced by small food business operators and producers in low- and middle-income countries, states the FAO. 

For instance, the website has been designed to work well on handheld mobile devices, which in some developing countries are far more widespread than computers.

Very few countries have coherent strategies in place to address food safety risks in the informal sector, highlights a report commissioned by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the CGIAR Initiative on One Health. 

US traceability compliance in 2026
In the US, action toward more traceable and safer food goes back to 2011, when US President Barack Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law, explains Harris, contributing author of IFT’s report. 

IFT’s Tech-Enabled Traceability Insights Report is based on 90 submissions from teams that participated in the FDA’s 2021 Low-or No-Cost Tech-Enabled Traceability Challenge.

The information in the report will help businesses gear up to meet FSMA compliance, which will come into force in January 2026. 

“Section 204 requires recordkeeping for those who manufacture, process, pack or hold foods included on the Food Traceability List (FTL),” says Harris. 

These foods were chosen for being the riskiest for food safety. The FTL includes cheeses, nut butters and a variety of fresh fruit, vegetables and ready-to-eat salads. 

“The three-year implementation period for the FSMA 204 rule may seem like a long time to prepare, but it is important that companies get started immediately,” he urges Harris.

“Companies covered by this rule will need to work with their customers and suppliers to ensure that the necessary processes are in place to identify, track and share the required data for each product they buy and sell on the FTL.”

The FAO’s new online resources for food safety are mobile-friendly to make them more accessible everywhere.Investing in traceable systems
One general challenge for traceability is simply that supply chains are built to move product, not data, points out Harris. And companies that do not currently employ modern traceability practices will likely need to adapt their processes.

“Traceability is rarely elevated to the point that it is one person’s sole job, so it is important that the staff that is put in charge are able to develop and implement a comprehensive traceability plan. Basic training is foundational to a quality traceability program,” states Harris. 

There is also a need for investment in infrastructure and tech that is intuitive with multi-language support, according to IFT’s report. 

Enabling a flow of data
Technology like blockchain, cloud-based computing, AI, and machine learning are making their way into traceability systems to simplify strategies. Still, the ultimate challenge will be tying the valuable data collected by these disparate systems. 

“It isn’t necessary for everyone to be using the latest and greatest technology,” emphasizes Harris. “But it is important that whatever technology is being used is built for their needs and follows data standards that enable interoperability with the systems that their suppliers and customers are using.”

There has been a proliferation of different software that have traceability functionality. However many of the systems do not incorporate data standards and in turn sharing data between them can require costly customizations, he warns. 

“Interoperability is an area that needs to be further advanced in order to truly have end-to-end traceability.”

Ensuring small-scale operators are not left behind
The IRLI-commissioned report underscores that insufficient attention has been given to informal food operators and businesses, resulting in a “missed opportunity” to improve food safety in this crucial sector. 

Moreover, current approaches to improve food safety often focus on disrupting small-scale operators in an attempt to replace them with a vision of a “modern” food system. 

While investments have been made in testing laboratories, food company inspection units, and national agency capacities, these efforts primarily focus on medium and larger food enterprises within the formal sector. 

“It is clear that doing more of the same will not yield safer food in the informal sector,” says Spencer Henson, a professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Guelph, Canada, and a co-author of the ILRI-commissioned report. “Nothing less than a paradigm shift is required to effectively address food safety risks moving forward.”

The report concludes with recommendations to take actions to improve nutrition and sanitation, starting at a local level. The use of more incentives for good practices, rather than punishment for not following regulation, is advised. 

Lastly, the report concedes that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

“By adopting innovative and inclusive strategies to tackle food safety risks in the informal sector, developing countries can enhance public health, promote sustainable urban development, and uplift the livelihoods of millions of informal food operators,” says Hung Nguyen, co-leader of the Animal and Human Health Program at ILRI.

“The challenge now is to convince funders and implementers to take these successful and affordable approaches to scale.”

By Missy Green