The document provides information about traceability systems in the food and feed supply chain. It discusses key aspects of traceability including internal traceability within a business and external traceability between suppliers and customers. It outlines the basic elements of a traceability system including supplier, process, and customer traceability. The document also discusses product identity and maintaining batches, and describes a typical 7-stage process for conducting a traceability study to establish a traceability system.

1. Digital Re-print September | October 2013
Traceability in the food and feed supply chain
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3. FEATURE
Traceability
in the food and feed supply chain
by Chris Knight, head of agriculture, Campden BRI, United Kingdom
T
raceability identifies the path from
where a product originated to
where it has been supplied, and
consists as a series of interlinking chain
of records either between process steps
in an individual food (or feed) business
operation and/or between different
stages in a food supply chain.
supply chain therefore relies on each food
business operator establishing traceability,
keeping associated records and being able
to make traceability information available to
whoever needs to know be this internally,
customers or regulators.
The focus therefore, is on individual food
There are two categories of information
relating to traceability:
• External traceability, which relates
to product information that a food
business operator either receives from
suppliers or provides to customers the so-called one step back/one step
forward approach
• Internal traceability, which relates to the
processing history within an individual
food business operation, i.e. the
matching up of all inputs to outputs
The requirements for traceability apply
to any business that trades in food at all
stages of the food chain. This includes for
example primary producers, grain stores,
merchants, processors, manufacturers, transporters, and retailers.
The food chain therefore is a series of
separate operations in sequence linked by
their respective inputs and outputs, where
the output from one operation becomes
the input for the next stage in the chain.
Each operator in the food chain records
information which links the operations and
provides chain traceability.
Most food business operators cannot
create traceability through the whole supply
chain, but each has a role to play in collecting and storing information about the
materials supplied to them, their production
process and the products they supply to
customers for the section of the food chain
under their control. Traceability in the food
Table 1: Stages in conducting a traceability study
18 | September - october 2013
business operators establishing internal and/
or external traceability for the section of
the food chain or production operation
under their control. For an individual food
business this is typically from receipt of raw
materials (the inputs) to dispatch of finished
products (the outputs). By linking each
Stage 1
Define the
scope of the
study
The study terms of reference of the traceability system should be
defined, including the product and process the study applies to and
the product identity criteria that apply where applicable.
Stage 2
Define
authority and
responsibility
A traceability study will require the establishment, implementation
and maintenance of the traceability system, and is best carried
out by persons with appropriate authority and knowledge of the
product and process.
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Stage 6
Describe the
product
A full description of the product(s) under study should be prepared,
including defining key identity parameters which relate to
traceability.
Define the
process
Prior to the traceability study beginning it is necessary to carefully
examine the process operations under study and produce a flow
diagram around which the traceability analysis can be based.
Conduct a
traceability
analysis
Identify and list the traceability attributes; conduct a traceability
analysis to determine where identity is read, recorded and applied.
Perform test
and review
activities
The traceability personnel should put into place procedures that can
be used to ensure compliance with the stated traceability procedures
and to determine the effectiveness in use
Efficient and accurate record keeping is essential to the successful
application of traceability. It is important for the food business
Establish
to be able to demonstrate that the traceability system has been
documentation
Stage 7
implemented and maintained, and that the system documentation
and record
and records have been established and kept in a way appropriate
keeping
to the nature and size of the business. The retention time should also
be defined.
From Campden BRI Guideline No 60
&feed millinG technoloGy
Grain

4. FEATURE
food business operation in the supply chain
together through their respective inputs and
outputs, traceability in the supply chain can
be established.
Key attributes of traceability
Traceability can be said to have a number
of roles or benefits for food businesses, their
customers and regulatory authorities, includ-
ing for example:
• To identify and record the history of a
product and locate it within the supply
chain
• To assist in targeted and accurate
withdrawal or recall
• To support claims about products and
provide information to customers and
consumers
• To assist in process control and
management, e.g. stock and waste
control
There is however no single definition or
system of traceability; it depends on many
factors including the nature of the product
and production operation. Traceability systems may also have different objectives such
as assuring food safety and quality, product
identity and provision of information to the
next stage in the supply chain. Although
regulations (e.g. EU General Food Law,
Regulation 178/2002), international standards (e.g. ISO 22000) and private voluntary
standards (e.g. BRC Global Standard for
Food Safety and the UK Feed Materials
Assurance Scheme) require traceability,
none is prescriptive in the way traceability is
achieved. This is because many options are
available. Nonetheless, traceability comprises
of three basic elements:
• Supplier traceability - Identify and trace
what material is received and from
which business (the one step back
external traceability)
• Process traceability - Identify and trace
what product is made from what
materials, when and how (internal
traceability)
• Customer traceability - Identify and
trace what product is supplied and to
which businesses (one step forward
external traceability)
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September - october 2013 | 19

5. FEATURE
This is in turn linked to
efficient record keeping.
The Global Food Safety
Initiative (GFSI) for example,
which benchmarks food standards against food safety criteria, specifies with respect to
traceability that there should
be both internal and external
traceability and that a standard
shall ensure:
• Identification of
outsourced product,
ingredient, or service
• Complete records of
batches in process or final
product and packaging
throughout the production
process
• Record of purchaser and
delivery destination for all
products supplied
ISO 22000:2005 includes
a specific requirement for a
traceability system. This covers the establishment and
application of a traceability
system that enables the identification of product lots and
their relation to batches of
raw materials, processing and
delivery records. Specific reference is also made to identifying
incoming raw materials from
the immediate supplier and
the initial distribution route of
the end product, and record keeping. This
is equivalent to establishing external and
internal traceability plus associated record
keeping.
In general legal requirements focus on
external traceability and do not require
internal traceability. In European Union food
law, for example, food business operators
must be able to:
• Identify from whom and to whom
product has been supplied
• Have systems and procedures in place
that allow this information to be made
20 | September - october 2013
available to competent authorities upon
their request
Product identity
The key to a successful traceability system
is also about the assigning of unique identifiers to specific batches of raw materials,
in process materials and finished product,
and maintaining the integrity of the batch
together with its information. Maintaining
batches can be achieved in space or time,
e.g. physical separation of materials in separate units or specific production run times.
What constitutes a batch and
how it is identified will depend
on the nature of the product
and production operation. In a
grain store for example, a batch
may be a grain storage bin or
compartment in a flat store,
whereas in a process operation
a batch may be a production
run date or time.
Maintaining and identifying
batches should also consider
the type of unit operation. For
example, whether batches
are transferred, joined or
split. Transfer is the simplest
of operations, where product
identification is transferred with
the product through one or
more steps in a process. That is
where the traceability information is retained
and the identification is transferred between
the process steps. Joining is where one process step combines several traceability units;
each with a unique identification code and a
new identification code is established for the
joined materials. Splitting, on the other hand,
is where a traceability unit is split and used
in the production of new traceability units,
each with a new identity code, for example,
in different processes, products, or customer
destinations.
In a grain handling operation for example,
a number of individual identified deliveries
may be mixed and joined in one storage bin.
The storage bin is then the new identified
material. As the grain in the storage bin is
used it is split into separate individual units,
each of which has a separate identifier based
on the use. The important aspect is that
there are clear records of the identity of the
materials that are loaded into the bin (the
inputs) and the materials that are unloaded
from the bin (the outputs). In this way a
traceability trail is established around the
storage bin, albeit materials are joined and
the mixed materials subsequently split.
The actual identifying reference used will
depend on the organisation and the traceability system used. In its simplest form a
batch may be assigned a unique sequential
number, date or identification reference (e.g.
storage bin number). An alternative might
&feed millinG technoloGy
Grain

7. FEATURE
be to encode further details using an alphanumeric substitution code. The principle of
product coding is to ensure that the various
sources of traceability information that are
used in an operation are linked, so that the
history of the product can be established.
The traceability system
How a traceability system is to be established, implemented and maintained by a
food business depends very much on the
nature of the product and the production
operation. The traceability system will also
need to take account of any regulatory and
adopted international or private voluntary
standard requirements. There are four basic
components of a traceability system:
• Organise and plan traceability
• Implement traceability
• Ensure effective operation of traceability
• Document and record traceability
When planning traceability it is helpful to
conduct a traceability study. A typical study
comprises seven stages (Table 1). These
stages include essential planning stages (Stages
1 to 4), the implementation stage (Stage 5)
and maintenance stages (Stages 6 and 7).
In addition there are also a number of
procedures that support. (and interrelate
with) a traceability system and underpin the
effective operation of traceability. Typically
these form part of a quality management
system and provide essential supporting
activities to ensure the traceability system is
fully effective. Examples include documentation and record keeping, internal audits,
training, control of non-conforming product
and purchasing procedures. These enable
the traceability system to be focused on the
mechanics of traceability, and help the effective implementation of traceability.
The system of traceability adopted by
a food or feed business operation and the
level of traceability achieved will depend on
the nature of the product and type of production operation. In a typical milling or feed
operation, there will be a degree of joining
and splitting of materials, and products may
either be supplied in bulk or discrete units
such as large bags or small sacks.
In other types of food business, more
direct traceability may be achievable and
identify is transferable directly between
process steps or operations. An animal, for
example, can be identified individually and
the feed materials consumed by the animal
traced. That identity can be retained with the
carcass after slaughter and cutting.
It is therefore for the business to decide
on the level of traceability achieved and
identity applied to product units. This, however, needs to be clearly defined in the
traceability system adopted.
The planning stages establish the essential
characteristics of the product and process
relevant to traceability and organisational
responsibility. This involves establishing the
scope, responsibility for traceability, product
details and the process operations. They
enable the personnel involved with the
traceability system to focus on the key issues
and ensure the system is established, implemented and maintained effectively.
The traceability analysis (Stage 5) depicts
how and where traceability is established
and the control points in the process. The
analysis is systematically applied at each
process step in sequence as defined in
the flow diagram (Stage 4). In practice this
involves establishing three traceability criteria
at each process step:
• What identification details (codes or
identifiers) are read?
• What information relevant to
traceability is recorded?
• What identifications (codes or
identifiers) are transferred to the next
step (new or retained)?
The purpose is to identify the traceability information that is read relevant to the
materials used and applied to the materials which are transferred to a subsequent
step, together with the records taken. The
latter may be a new identifier or one that
is retained from the materials used. If, in
the analysis, it is determined traceability is
compromised in any way and it is deemed
necessary to establish traceability then the
procedures need to be modified to ensure
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Certification
scheme
Early warning
Traceability
Monitoring
Process control
Chain approach
Prerequisites
Product standards
HACCP
ISO
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September - october 2013 | 21

8. FEATURE
an appropriate level of traceability is established.
Performing test and review activities
(Stage 6) is akin to verification of HACCP
systems. The objective is to confirm that
the traceability system is working effectively.
The aim is to demonstrate conformance
with stated procedures and that traceability
is established effectively. For traceability systems there are two key questions:
• Does traceability work in practice?
That is, is there conformance with the
traceability system as implemented and
is working in practice? Typical examples
are audits or other inspections of the
systems, and testing the system in some
way, e.g. a traceability test and mass
balance check
• Is the traceability system up to date?
That is, has there been any change that
affects traceability, e.g. with the product
or process? This will involve a periodic
review of the traceability system
Grain storage traceability analysis
An example traceability analysis is given
in Table 2. This depicts a typical grain storage operation. The example is given for
illustrative purposes only and demonstrates
a generic approach to traceability in such an
operation. The details such as identification
read, records taken and identification applied
are shown for indication only. However, the
traceability analysis concept that is demonstrated can be applied to any product or
production operation.
External traceability in this example
is established by the identification of
Table 2: Traceability in a grain storage operation - Terms of reference
Product
Wheat
Process
The storage of harvested grain
Start: Intake of grain from farms and merchants (suppliers)
Finish: Dispatch of grain to customers
Traceability criteria
Grain is handled in bulk. Grain is identified by the bulk consignment
reference (external traceability) or storage unit identity reference
(internal traceability)
Traceability analysis (each process step in the grain storage operation)
Process step
Identification read
Recorded information
Identification applied
1: Grain intake
Receipt of grain from
suppliers, including
intake checks and
tipping of grain at
intake point
Supplier’s lot, batch
or consignment
reference
What was received
(lot, batch or
consignment
reference), the
quantity, who
supplied it, and date
received
Supplier’s lot, batch
or consignment
reference is retained
2: Temporary
holding
Temporary storage of
grain pre-drying (bin
store)
Supplier’s lot, batch
or consignment
reference
What received grain
is loaded into a
temporary store is
detailed on intake
records
Temporary store
reference
3: Grain conditioning
Cleaning and drying
grain by heated-air
(batch or continuous
process)
Temporary store
reference
What was
dried, from what
(temporary store
references), how and
when
Drying batch or run
reference
4: Long-term storage
Storage of
conditioned grain
in cool and dry
conditions (bin or flat
store)
Drying batch or run
reference
What dried grain
is loaded into a
long term store is
recorded on the
drying records
Long term store
reference
5: Dispatch
Unloading of store,
and loading of
transport vehicle
Long term store
reference
What product was
supplied (long term
store reference), to
whom and when
Each delivery of
stored grain supplied
is identified by a
unique consignment
reference
22 | September - october 2013
the materials received into the business
(process step 1), which are also the grain
supplied by another business (the one
step back), and by the identification of
the grain supplied to another business
(process step 5), which is also the material received by another business (the one
step forward).
Internal traceability is established by the
matching of inputs (step 1 intake) to the
outputs (step 5 dispatch) through the steps
in the process (temporary holding, drying and
storage).
In this example it is not possible to
directly link the materials received to the
materials supplied to the customer. This is
because there has been joining or splitting of
grain at various steps in the process.
Different traceability units are joined and
mixed in bulk storage units at steps 2 and 3.
There is splitting where grain is drawn from
the long-term grain store to make separate
deliveries to customers.
However, the records taken would
clearly identify the identification references
of all the components joined or split at the
process steps. In this way internal traceability
is established at each process step including
steps where grain is bulked and split, albeit
that direct traceability of individual batches
received is lost.
Direct traceability might theoretically be
achieved if the grain received, depending
on source or the type grain, is handled and
stored separately. That is where product
identification is transferred with the product
through one or more steps in the process,
and the identification is transferred between
the process steps. However, in a typical grain
storage operation this may not be a practical
option due to the nature of the handling
operation and bulk storage.
Traceability in this example may be summarised as follows:
• Suppliers: Information relating to from
whom grain has been supplied is linked
to intake records (one step back
external traceability)
• Process: Information relating to the matching
of inputs to outputs is linked to storage and
drying records (internal traceability)
• Customers: Information relating to
whom grain is supplied is linked to
dispatch consignment records (one step
forward external traceability)
Further reading
Traceability in the food and feed chain:
General principles and basic system requirements. Campden BRI Guideline No 60
www.campdenbri.co.uk/publications/pubDetails.php?pubsID=2489
More inforMation:
Tel: +44 1386 84201
Fax: +44 1386 842100
Email: chris.knight@campdenbri.co.uk
Website: www.campdenbri.co.uk
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Grain

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