As weeks past and people throughout the US get sick, still there is no definite source of the recent salmonella out break found in peanut butter products. Many ask why?… Well there are many excuses for this one, however I will keep the list short…
1) Lack of knowledge of electronic record keeping;
2) Ignorance of database, RFiD, Barcode and other technologies;
3) Failure to understand ISO GS1, have set the standards for tracking and tracing of any fresh produce product;
4) Just waiting for compliance requirements, to become law, with substantial fines for non-compliance;
5) Failure to understand ‘Compliance’, equals good risk management;
Peanuts, like some other grains are harvested from multiple growers and then grouped together in a drying and/or curing facility if you will… well the problem as stated by the packers of these nuts is, “I cannot separate one grower from the other grower during the drying process”, all nuts are kept together … ‘no pun intended’… Well, I guess it is time to upgrade your packing facility and talk to a plastic bin supplier. Not only will these bins allow air to flow through the product, but using RFiD tags or simple bar-coded tags (GS1 Databar, SSCC or GTIN), the packing facility of these nuts can clearly identify any grower’s product that was used in any manufacturing process of peanut oils, butter or other peanut products that were shipped to other manufacturers of peanut products, such as the Baklava assortment I purchased 2.5 months ago from my favorite club store and just received the re-call notice dated January 22, 2009 on Monday.
So while one packing facility of peanut products receives all the attention and rightly so, because salmonella was found in the facility on more than one occasion according to record, the entire peanut industry suffers! Just notice your own attitude when you walk down the grocery isle that has the peanut butter, you look at it and notice the rack is quite full, and you certainly did not pick-up a jar… , well hello Mr. Tomato, Mr. Spinach, Mr. Green Onion and Mr. Lettuce
“Farm to Fork Tracking in Minutes, Not Days!”, eProduce v4.0, developed by Next Version Software, LLC., enables producers of fresh produce products to track and trace any food product in accordance with ISO GS1 standards, including ingredients used to manufacture a food product.
