Consumers’ confidence in the food they eat is eroding. In the last few years, FDA food recalls increased nearly 400%, largely thanks to salmonella and undeclared allergens1. Ghastly stories about contaminated foods causing illness and deaths across several states further diminish consumers’ confidence in food — and in the retailers where they purchased the recalled food products.
Both the United States government and the produce industry have taken notice of this critical situation. Their responses have resulted in the Food Safety Modernization Act, which includes the Bioterrorism Act and Country-of-Origin Labeling requirements of 2002, as well as the Produce Traceability Initiative. In addition, large and influential retailers are placing increased emphasis on consumer safety, and are mandating that all fresh produce delivered to their distribution centers follow the new industry standards for labels.
While the new government regulations and industry initiatives can be difficult to navigate, compliance is more important than ever. Beyond the risks of enormous financial fallout due to recalls, even the best produce is in jeopardy of being rejected by large retailers for failure to meet mandated labeling standards.
An effective traceability system is the foundational element of many of the new regulations and requirements. Without an efficient, accurate track-and-trace system, the negative impact of a potential recall is multiplied.Without precise product identification, unaffected produce could have to be destroyed, which further eats away at tumbling profits — and does nothing to help public safety or customer satisfaction.
In addition, slow execution and inaccurate tracking further delay the ability to determine the root cause of a food safety issue, which can also diminish customer confidence for the long-term.
Lowry Solutions understands the demands created by increasing food safety legislation and industry regulations, as well as the focus on consumer safety. We realize that you need cost-effective food traceability solutions that help you improve operational efficiency and get employees up to speed while also meeting current (and future) compliance. We provide fully customizable and integrated solutions and the complete line of industry-leading Honeywell products, including:
- Handheld computers
- Wearable voice computer
- Rugged mobile printers
- Fixed industrial printers
- Wired and wireless scanners
- RFID devices
- Cold storage media
Check out our quick video on Lowry’s Packaging Execution System — the ideal traceability solution for the Food & Beverage industry:
And make sure to browse our food traceability brochure from Intermec by Honeywell for more information on essential traceability hardware.
Got more questions? Contact Lowry Solutions today for a hands-on demonstration of our food traceability solutions and the latest Honeywell products.
1. Texas Food Safety Conference 2011 — SAGE Food Safety presentation: August 17, 2014
