BASICS TRACEABILITY CONCEPTS IN SPANISH FOOD SECTOR

Traceability Systems have important implications in terms of quality, safety and prevention. Traceability had been previously defined by the comprehensive management systems quality, and particularly, by the ISO standards. In this sense the ISO 9001:2000 defines it as "the ability to trace the history , application or location of what is being considered." This definition is complemented by that is given in the ISO 8402:1994 standard which is defined as "the ability to trace the history , application or location of an entity by collecting data." The European Union as EC No 178/2002 regulation that traceability is "the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animals or substances used to be , or expected to be, incorporated into a food or feed through all stages of production and distribution. " Since January 2005, the application of the directive is mandatory in all countries of the European Union.

Food Traceability Systems are also useful to quickly and efficiently locate an unsafe product, preventing it from reaching the consumer and the market. Furthermore, traceability is used for all data of your history (treatments, raw materials, self-control, etc..) To trace the source of any queries and the existence of other potentially unsafe products associated with it. Its usefulness is essential to prevent fraud related to the authenticity of a food and the geographical origin, being useful for business management system and a competitive commercial advantage for its customers.

Notwithstanding this general definition can be established estimating process as an example of a common table tomato. Traceability will know what the origin of the seed, the date and place of cultivation, which processes and irrigation water sources have been used, the mating system of the flower of the fruit, insecticide treatments and anti-bacteriological employees, the time collection and maturation time of each batch until the marketing of the product, including transportation to the point of sale and marketing of the same model. As we see, the traceability of our tomato offers insight into any problems set in almost all of each milestone in the food production chain. One example was the quick action after the cucumber crisis in Germany in 2011, erroneously attributed to initial Spanish farmers manner due to a bacterial E. coli poisoning caused by irrigation water of a product precisely German. Traceability systems and comparative analyzes conducted by the Robert Koch Institute , allowed limit in days and recall of contaminated product headings. Unfortunately and despite apologies from the German institutional authorities, the damage to the image of our agriculture had already occurred (about 6 million euros a day and the collapse of the Almería campaign cucumber.)

Traceability can also be estimated under different perspectives: Call Traceability of origin (or "backward") that corresponds to find the original source of each product or component. The traceability process that involves knowing the detailed composition of each element and Traceability drawn target (or "forward") based on knowing what customers sent each batch of product to be served from the company. European legislation requires the implementation of CE178/2002 Traceability systems to all sectors dedicated to human or animal and any packaging industry, additives, coatings, gases or any other part that is in direct contact with food in the packaging, including the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.

Therefore, a traceability system should provide the ability to identify suppliers of an industry with all raw materials , including packaging and any substance used. Thus, the estimated initial concept from the perspective of security, is extrapolated to improvements in quality across the industry and the food chain to better understand the ingredients, sources, concentrations, purity or any other matter relating to the production enable optimization and quality of products and processed food. Regarding the implementation of traceability processes, each company in the food chain must know what are the parameters required to comply with legislation in their area of ​​operation for all standard logic, despite similarly affect a large packaging industry food that a small bakery pastry, has several layers of complexity depending on the business type and every professional subsector.

Thus, in principle, address the implementation of a traceability system requires the purchase of marking systems, data logging, monitoring, etc. . based on the application of specific identification techniques called " minimalist ", that is, in the simplest manner and requiring a minor complication. This minimalist system is based on numerical codes in which each number has a specific meaning: the country, the community or geographic area, type of company, product, and other basic data. So with a numerical sequence can perfectly identify the product.

The reading is then carried out using bar code readers, which facilitates the process can be automated and interpreted by a computer, allowing precise control of each batch and product. The complexity append elements during the process can be addressed through the provision of additional electronic chips with greater capacity for data storage.

In addition, properly addressing traceability processes with simple records on basic operations of each business process, allow companies to have an efficient control over aspects such as control of product losses, stop machinery, raw materials optimization, batch control and forfeitures, which will bring significant benefits in the form of huge increases in profitability for the entire production chain.

The final recommendation is, in conclusion, that each company studied in depth the key points to combine traceability and performance in all cases respecting the law and adapting it to the production requirements that are necessary in each case.

+info:

• International Traceability Portal: http://www.gestiontrazabilidad.com
• Guide for implementing traceability system in the agro-food companies: http://aesan.msssi.gob.es/AESAN/docs/docs/publicaciones_estudios/seguridad/Trazabilidad1.pdf