The key focus of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022–2030 is to improve the use of food chain information. Each member state was requested to support this initiative by establishing national guidance or codes of practice for food traceability. Robust food traceability systems serve several roles in advancing food safety and sustainability. However, the lack of standards proves challenging in ensuring that food illness is a thing of the past.
Environmental sustainability efforts require knowledge of where food originates and how it travels through the supply chain. When aggregated and analyzed, product movement data sets can identify valuable trends and profound insights to combat food waste. Perhaps most relevant to illness reduction goals, digitized traceability data enable outbreak investigations while simultaneously facilitating swift and precise recalls that exclusively remove commercial products dangerous to public health.
Traceability and supporting technology have grown significantly over the last two decades. Policy also plays a major role in the advancement of traceability. However, there exists an opportunity for advancement and collaboration because the interconnectedness of the global food industry highlights the need for universal traceability definitions and uniform standards.
Data standards provide an instructive framework for both public and private sector stakeholders. Adopting data standards that specify what, when, and how data should be collected, formatted, and communicated can reduce the burden of traceability requirements on a global scale.
In this regard, traceability standards such as GS1’s EPCIS standard are especially relevant, as it is designed to allow disparate applications to create and exchange traceability event data. The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) and the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) are great examples of sector-specific traceability standards built upon GS1 foundations.
However, food operations are incredibly unique, and widespread standard uptake will require customization to meet the diverse needs of all stakeholders. Pre-competitive, commodity-based traceability initiatives that build upon existing foundational standards offer promising opportunities for end-to-end standards adoption.
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