Australia and new Zealand advised on food traceability
Dr Craig Shadbolt, NSW Food Authority foodborne illness investigation unit manager, discussed disease outbreaks in small crops with delegates. He analysed last year's listeria outbreak in US cantaloupe melons.
He told delegates of the lawsuits and bankruptcy faced by Jensen Farms, who supplied the melons in questions. He then surprised his audience by telling them of the detection of listeria in cantaloupe melons in Australia.
Listeria was detected within rockmelons on farms in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria over a five month period in 2010. Traceback exercises were inconclusive, but did show links to a certain growing region.
There have been no further finds of that nature since the harvest from that region was over.
He said, though, that this was evidence that Australian farmers needed to incorporate fruit and vegetable tracking mechanisms into their operations.
In response to the US listeria outbreak, the Australian melon industry is also commencing a project to understand the level of food safety practices on farms and educate growers.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) is currently working on a Primary Production and Processing Standard for Horticulture (Proposal P1015).
In the same session speaker Amanda Hill, FSANZ, detailed the current systems in place should a food incident occur either side of the Tasman.
She used the example of last year's E.coli outbreak in Germany to demonstrate the importance of food traceability in source identification.
She said that Australia and New Zealand were well positioned for a major food scare, but pointed out there was room for improvement.
“Traceability has been the single biggest issue that delays our response,” she said.
Hill said she would like to see a more collaborated approach, bringing together all involved in the supply chain, from industry players, to the government.
The technology to trace food from farm to plate is available, but it seems that Australia and New Zealand are lagging behind in taking it up.
Andrew Steele of information collating company GS1, spoke at PMA Fresh Connections 2012 on new barcode technology which can deliver traceability from "case to shelf."
The GS1 DataBar, which looks like a doubled-up standard barcode, can provide additional information such as weight, expiration date, batch and serial numbers.
The smaller size of the DataBar means it can be used on individual items such as apples, pears, tomatoes and other produce.
GS1 has also been instrumental in establishing the new product recall system, Recallnet, an online portal which enables companies to create, approve and issue recall and withdrawal notifications to their customers and government agencies, efficiently and securely.
The service is designed to increase the speed and accuracy of the removal of unsafe or unsuitable products from the supply chain.
Mr Steele also spoke on GS1 GoScan, a new smartphone app that delivers authorised production information including country of origin, dietary information, potential allergens and ingredients to consumers.
Source: sl.farmonline.com/au
