Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXII, Issue 2
Written by Florentina MARIN HADDAD, Ioana TOMA, Mona Elena POPA, Mariana PIPIRIGEANU
Traceability expresses the ability to detect and track raw materials, food products of animal or plant origin, a foodproducing animal, or a substance intended to be embedded or expected to be incorporated into a food product, throughout all stages of production, processing and distribution. A traceability system in practice involves systematically and continuously completing and keeping records that can be uniquely identified for each batch unit and the information required at each stage of the food chain (up to consumption). For agri-food products, traceability makes a link between raw materials, their origin, processing, distribution and location after marketing. Food traceability must in principle aim at two objectives: the first one is to provide information to product use and the second one, to contribute to the safety of the food, allowing, as appropriate, withdrawal of non-conforming batches and recall of the product. The way the food goes through “from farm to fork” is called the food chain. The food chain has several links: farmers producing raw material, food processors, distributors and consumers. One of the benefits of traceability is the implementation of food contamination monitoring programs. Traceability facilitates the identification of key products in a particular food chain where sampling of products is required, to monitor the concentration of chemical, microbiological and biological contaminants.
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