Food buyers nowadays demand to know where food products come from. Information about food sources has been deemed crucial in the light of the food poisoning scare from several food items over the past years. These food safety scandals have been brought about by the salmonella and E. coli poisoning in farm produce and peanut butter, as well as the melamine-tainted baby formula and pet food from China.
The interest in the information about food sources is now a burgeoning social movement not only because of these food safety concerns but also of the ethical and environmental issues associated with the food industry.
To address this need for information, food producers and manufacturers have established the system of using barcodes or RFID chips to track their products. Traceability has been a consumer premium. This system of barcode also helps determine the calculation of food miles and carbon footprint of food items. Thus, barcodes serve as the foods’ credentials.
Most of these food tracking systems are understandably global in the age of globalization and trade liberalization. Since food is a sensitive product, manufacturers and exporters are very well aware that transparency of food source data is the key to consumer trust and confidence.
Some examples are a major palm oil supplier in Indonesia and Malaysia that uses food-tracking software developed by a company in Spain. An online database company works hand in hand with a telecoms company to track halal food and licensed halal stores. Some even provide ‘isotope analysis of chicken meat to check where and how the birds were farmed.’
Via NewScientist
