At the end of February this year, information appeared in the Polish media about the introduction of industrial salt into the market, which was used for the production of food products (including meat, cold cuts, and bread). Journalists report that the prosecutor’s office has provided the Sanitary Inspectorate in Poznań with a list of 88 companies that used industrial salt for the production of food products.
The use of “bad” salt covers almost the entire territory of Poland (12 voivodeships). Will the companies that have to withdraw goods from the market do so effectively? Is it possible to reach reliable information about the source of the problem? Will food production companies using industrial salt be able to clear the market of products hazardous to health as quickly as possible?
Concern for the high quality of products introduced to the market by food industry companies is nothing new. With Poland’s accession to the European Union, regulations regarding product safety became stricter, and enterprises had to meet additional requirements, such as the implementation of the HACCP system. However, it was only January 1, 2005, that was a breakthrough in terms of food safety, as it was then that Regulation 178/2002 of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe came into force, which regulates the obligation to monitor the movement and origin of food and feed by all food operators. Therefore, all participants in the supply chain are responsible for monitoring the origin of food, and thus not only producers and distributors but also retail chains and stores, which are the final link in this chain. The essence of tracking movement and origin (traceability) is the ability to monitor a given product (production batch) at every stage of the supply chain, i.e., the ability to obtain data from the previous stage of the chain (from whom and what was received) and at the same time provide information to the next stage (to whom and what was sent).
Most often, the product tracking and tracing system is used to locate defective or dangerous food, pharmaceuticals, or other products dangerous to customers that are in circulation. In some cases, the ability to quickly and easily, from a technical point of view, withdraw a unit or group of units from the market can save lives. Withdrawing products in a timely manner also reduces potential financial losses and helps maintain consumer trust in the quality of their favorite brands. Currently, on the Polish market, there are no tools supporting activities in the area of crisis management and product recalls. The existing RASFF system is a system supporting the actions of authorities, not enterprises.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 1/2012.
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