The food we eatFood safety standards must be shown to add to companies' bottom line

It is one thing to formulate security and safety standards, it is another thing to make manufacturers follow these standards. The main reason companies cut corners when it comes to safety is the fact that the cost of many of these regulations is prohibitive, and companies do not see how following such regulations would add to their bottom line (see “More and More Nations Are Food-Insecure,” 25 February 2009 HS Daily Wire). This is also the conclusion of Thomas Cutler in his article “ISO 22000 Standards Without Profitability Are Doomed” in the current issue of Quality Digest.

“Most people equate traceability with material movement-that’s a last-century concept,” says Gary Nowacki, president of Longmont, Colorado-based TraceGains, a brand protection and promotion solutions provider. “You also have to collect all the surrounding information, and then analyze that information to make good business decisions.” Traceability can no longer remain an insurance policy that only pays off when something goes wrong, Nowacki explains. Payoff typically in that case is usually only compliance with the Food Bioterrorism Act. By monitoring their supply chain, companies avoid recalls, which has little to do with traceability but everything to do with profitability and brand protection. The Reasons for ISO 22000.

“While the media is quick to report the latest hysteria contamination, or salmonella outbreak, and how a company was lax it meeting a standard, the thin margins of these organizations must ensure that beyond simply reacting to the Food Bioterrorism Act, HACCP requirements, GAP/GMP best practices, or the ISO 22000 standard,” Nowacki adds. “The vast data collected by an advanced traceability solution informs better, leaner, and more profitability throughout the supply chain while improving product safety and quality.”

TraceGains was founded in 1998 with what it says i a 100 percent focus on Positively Assured Traceability. The company has a patented delivery system — fourteen patents granted, and growing — and also is an authorized Issuer of United States Department of Agriculture Process Verification Program (PVP) Label.

The company says that the point should only be reducing risk. The point is to help companies turn disparate data into actionable business and value chain intelligence, with the aim of turning traceability from a cost center into a profit center. The company claims that its customers typically experience a better than 300 percent return on investment (ROI), and an average profitability increase between 3-5 percent. The company says that independent, peer-reviewed university studies confirm these findings.