Practical study on traceability in small and medium-sized food companies

One of the most important aspects of cross-stage quality assurance is traceability along the entire value chain. For this reason, according to Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002, all food companies are obliged to ensure the traceability of the goods they receive and put into circulation and to be able to clearly assign their goods to the supplier company and the recipient company.

Consistent reports from the ranks of food control and QS auditors indicate that the traceability of food is difficult to guarantee in some cases, especially in small and medium-sized food companies (SMEs). Obstacles can e.g. B. changing suppliers or purchasing options depending on the supply situation, missing delivery documents or insufficiently trained staff. In order to do justice to this topic, the practical study was carried out as part of a federal research project by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Traceability in small and medium-sized food companies released. Companies from the QS scheme were involved in the study.

The published results aim to:

• Businesses that have been shown potential for optimization during the audit, as an aid,
• sensitize companies in the food industry to the topic of internal traceability,
• Give suggestions and tips for practical implementation and
• describe the success factors for good traceability.

Source: https://www.q-s.de/news-pool-de/bfr-praxisstudie-rueckverfolgbarkeit-lebensmittel.html

The full practical study can be found here: http://www.ipm.berlin/fileadmin/publikationen_buecher/IPO-IT_ZooGloW_Praxisstudie_Rueckverfolgung_KMU_v1.00.pdf