Almost one month ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released Pilot Projects for Improving Product Tracing along the Food Supply System, a report highlighting the results of two traceability pilot studies conducted by the Institute of Food Technologists for FDA. These pilot studies were required under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Yesterday, FDA announced in the Federal Register that it is extending the industry comment period to July 3; comments were originally due April 4. After the comment period closes, FDA will begin development on a proposed rule for food traceability – the requirements of which can be found in the recordkeeping portion of the FSMA statute.

As we said in an earlier post, the IFT report contains recommendations on traceability that are consistent and align with our industry’s Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI). PTI will be submitting comments to FDA on the report by the new deadline.

In the meantime, PMA members can learn more by visiting our FSMA resource center and joining the FSMA Community on PMA Xchange.

Yesterday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released Pilot Projects for Improving Product Tracing along the Food Supply System, a report highlighting the results of two traceability pilot studies conducted by the Institute of Food Technologists for FDA. The report contains recommendations on traceability that are consistent and align with our industry’s Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI), including:

• Encouraging current industry-led initiatives,
• Not excluding commodities,
• Accepting electronic traceability data/records during product tracing investigations, and
• Requiring all organizations that handle food in the supply chain to identify and maintain records of traceability related information.

In a statement to members, PMA Vice President of Supply Chain Efficiencies Ed Treacy noted that “this is excellent news for our industry which has invested significant resources developing a model for supply chain-wide traceability that, in the end, should always be a major component of any food safety program. We look forward to seeing how FDA incorporates this report into proposed record-keeping rules, which will be the foundation of traceability from the agency.”

As industry members begin to digest the information on the pilot studies, it’s critical to keep in mind that the report is not a regulation. That said, FDA is seeking comment on the report before submitting its findings to Congress and then developing proposed rules as required under the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Comments are due to FDA by April 4. PMA will be working with our members, including our Supply Chain Efficiencies Committee, to evaluate this report and submit appropriate, timely comments.

What do you think of the report? Share your thoughts in the FSMA Community on PMA Xchange. Also, don’t forget to check out our FSMA resource center for the latest FSMA news and information.

In mid-November, PMA members in Florida and the Southeast U.S. will have an opportunity to learn about emerging trends in produce safety and traceability during our Fresh Connections: Tampa event on November 15. During Fresh Connections: Tampa, you’ll be able to:

• understand new trends and ideas that will impact the future of food safety in the produce industry and ultimately your bottom line;
• hear a panel’s reaction to Dr. Whitaker’s presentation and how they believe these issues will impact the industry and their specific business segments;
• share your comments directly with the presenter and panelists; and
• engage with your peers, discuss viewpoints and exchange ideas during breakout sessions.

PMA’s Chief Science & Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker and Vice President of Supply Chain Efficiencies Ed Treacy will be joined by Martha R. Roberts, Ph. D., University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Arthur P. Liang, MD, MPH; Senior Advisor for Food Safety, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, & Environmental Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during this event.

Prospective attendees also have an opportunity to help shape the education program for this meeting. We are posting several audio blogs from Dr. Whitaker on the PMA website in the weeks leading up to Fresh Connections: Tampa; the first message is already online. If you’d like to share your thoughts on emerging trends, listen to the message and e-mail Dr. Whitaker your ideas.

To learn more or to register, visit the PMA website. There are special advance registration rates for PMA and PMA Gold Circle members.

Last year as part of its work in implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced two pilot projects will enhance the agency’s and industry’s ability to trace products responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks. One pilot focused on the produce industry while the other focused on processed foods. To accomplish these, FDA contracted with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) with a final report on pilot results due to Congress this summer.

On a Friday, October 26 workshop during the 2012 Fresh Summit Convention & Exposition in Anaheim, California, we’ll be examining the pilot project results and the latest outcomes and findings about traceability – with representatives from IFT providing first-hand expertise and insight. This session will highlight the challenges presented by traceability and cover the IFT’s recommendations to the FDA from the FSMA-mandated produce tracing pilot.

Moderated by PMA Vice President of Supply Chain Efficiencies Ed Treacy, the workshop will feature speakers/panelists including Caitlin Hickey from IFT; Sherri McGarry, senior advisor, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Foods and FDA lead for traceability regulations; Teri Miller, produce category manager for Delhaize America, LLC, and member of Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) Implementation Working Group; and Tom Casas, vice president of Tanimura & Antle and Industry Chair of the PTI Master Data Working Group.

If you want to learn the latest about traceability and FSMA, you won’t want to miss this session. You can learn more about the 2012 Fresh Summit program by visiting our website.

Also, if you’re planning to attend, be sure to register on or before September 21 to receive early registration rates. There are a number of event registration packages available; visit the Fresh Summit website for complete details on these options.

Following up on last week’s post about new traceability best practices for private label/brands being available to industry, I’d like to share some news about a new e-Learning course available from PMA that focuses on the gains realized by several industry early adopters as a result of implementing the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI).

Members have told us they are interested in learning more about operational efficiencies to be gained through traceability. Examples of these efficiencies included in the e-Learning course include:

• Minimized of the scope of a product recall (12 percent of cases as opposed to 100 percent).
• Enhanced case data through use of bar-code labels, resulting in a reduction of quality claims to less than one percent.
• Improved tracking resulting in prioritization of loads going into coolers.
• Use of PTI as a competitive advantage over other fruit and vegetable growers.
• Increased accuracy and productivity in scanning of inbound shipments at the receiver level.

You might recall that earlier this year, we released a PTI e-Learning course which provides a detailed timeline of the PTI – from its inception to its current work. It also addresses common misconceptions about what the PTI is and what it is not.

You can learn more about the newest e-Learning course via the PMA website, and you can also visit the Food Safety Community on PMA Xchange to discuss traceability issues.

Recently I shared the highlights from the Produce Traceability Initiative’s industry implementation survey via the most recent PTI Leadership update. In addition to the survey findings, the update also discussed the latest resource for industry to use when considering traceability: Best Practices for Private Label/Brands.

This guidance was developed to assist private label brand owners and their packers in meeting PTI requirements as well as formalizing current industry practices for PTI compliant case labeling for private label/brand products. It presents three scenarios and what buyers/suppliers need to do:

• When the case is marked with buyer’s private label/brand information;
• When the case is marked with the supplier’s brand information; and
• When the case is not marked with either the supplier’s brand or the private label brand information.

If you’re looking for additional information about the PTI, visit the PTI website to find a number of resources on traceability implementation; for example, the PTI Webinar series from earlier this year provides the various links in the supply chain with valuable information on how to build a traceability system. You can also visit the Food Safety Community on PMA Xchange to discuss traceability issues.

According to the most recent Produce Traceability Initiative update, the industry survey on PTI implementation found that 93 percent of brand owners said they are assigning or planning to assign Global Trade Identification Numbers (GTINs), 62 percent of suppliers said they are applying or currently implementing case-labels with GS1-128 barcodes, and 75 percent of receivers said they are reading or currently implementing programs to read case labels using GS1 standards.

In addition, about 84 percent of responding suppliers reported they are communicating GS1 GTINs to receivers, while 77 percent of all brand owners said that they have assigned GTINs to some or all of their produce cases. Meanwhile, 88 percent of receivers reported they are receiving cases with incoming GTINs, and 75 percent of receivers reported they are reading or planning on reading data on some or all inbound cases.

Receivers trail suppliers on PTI implementation, but are making headway, with 43 percent of receivers reporting they are totally or partially equipped for reading inbound PTI-recommended data, and 40 percent of receivers are storing all or some data on inbound cases.

To learn more, check out the survey’s executive summary. For more information about traceability, visit the PTI website to find a number of resources on traceability implementation – from on-demand Webinars for various links in the supply chain to technical best practices documents. You can also visit the Food Safety Community on PMA Xchange to discuss traceability issues.

In the most recent Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) update, I noticed there was a summary of the distinctions between the GS1-128 and Code 128 barcodes used in the produce industry to help alleviate industry confusion about the two. Since traceability continues to be a topic of interest on this blog, I thought I’d share this with you.

The GS1-128 barcode is required by the PTI to be used for trade item data for logistics units. The GS1-128 is a subset of the Code 128 symbology. The difference between the two symbols is: the GS1-128 barcode must include the Function Code 1 Character (FNC1) at the start of the data string. This allows the encoding of Application Identifiers (AIs) that “tells” the application what to expect next. The Code 128 symbology does not include the Function Code 1 Character or AIs and therefore, it does not meet PTI requirements.

In other supply chain news, PMA recently added an overview of the DataBar Online resource to our website. For those unfamiliar with it, DataBar Online is a tool designed for use by sellers and retail buyers of loose/bulk produce items using the GS1 DataBar (the stacked omnidirectional barcode formerly known as RSS).

The DataBar is a barcode used to encode a 14-digit GTIN (Global Trade Item Number). It will enable sellers of produce to communicate their GTINs and corresponding PLU codes to their buyers, and allow buyers to download this information into their Point-of-Sale systems to scan the DataBar on loose/bulk items currently labeled with Price Look Up stickers as opposed to having to physically enter the PLU code to identify the product.

For more details, visit the Supply Chain Efficiencies section of the PMA website.

In the most recent Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) e-mail update, I noticed that the PTI is currently conducting a survey to measure the progress the produce industry has made toward case-level traceability. If you haven’t already completed the PTI Implementation Survey, please do so now as the survey will close April 5. You can take the survey here, which will only take about 7-10 minutes of your time. (Note: the survey deadline has been extended until April 12.)

Every month, I take a look at usage statistics for this blog and in March, traceability was the most accessed topic. In light of this, I wanted to share with you some details about a new PTI e-Learning course PMA developed to help educate industry members about the Initiative and its goals.

Available in the Education section of our Food Safety Resource Center, this course provides a detailed timeline of the PTI – from its inception to its current work. It also addresses common misconceptions about what the PTI is and what it is not.

This is the second e-Learning course PMA has released in recent weeks. In late March, we unveiled a course focused on managing a food safety non-compliance event with PMA Chief Science and Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker. This is also available in the Education section of our Food Safety Resource Center.

These courses are a few of the new formats PMA is utilizing to give members important information in a format that is easily accessible. In addition to these, we’ve added video Podcast briefs focused on PMA’s packaging study as well as provided a new way for members to communicate with each other and with us on PMA Xchange.

As I mentioned in a blog post last week, today at 2 p.m. ET the Produce Traceability Initiative is offering a free Webinar focused on best practices for repacking and commingling of fruits and vegetables. Next week on April 4, the PTI is offering another webinar – this one focused on best practices for produce brokers.

This session will focus on best practice recommendations to help develop and maintain efficient shipping, receiving and communication processes for buy and sell arrangements involving produce brokers. Multiple scenarios of shipments of orders to customers will be discussed. Speaking during this Webinar are Mike Meagher of CH Robinson and John Fulgieri of Andrew and Sons. Register for this webinar here.

In addition to this webinar, the PTI website has a number of resources available to the industry – including the entire on-demand suite of webinars from last fall that addressed traceability best practices for retailers, grower/packers, hybrid labeling, case labeling, and more. You can also learn more about the PTI pilot programs and case studies. For more details, visit the PTI website.