FoodTRACE UPDATE

FoodTRACE currently keeps dozens of companies updated via email on a regular basis regarding traceability and the FoodTRACE program. If you would like to be added to the list, please email us at info@usfoodtrace.com. The following is an update that was sent out today to give you an idea of the type of information that is included in our updates which go out on the average of one to three times per month depending on the level of activity happening in traceability.

FoodTRACE® Update


The FoodTRACE® traceability program has made much progress since the last update.

There was obviously a flurry of news as the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, called HR2749, was being discussed and finally passed through the House of Representatives. It will be brought up in the Senate probably sometime in September or October but as we all know the health issue has taken main stream currently.

To our knowledge, FoodTRACE® is the only traceability system that fully complies with every nuance that is currently written into HR2749 with regards to section 107 of the bill which addresses traceability.

Additionally, on July 7, 2009, during a press conference on food safety in Washington D.C., Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services (the cabinet department which oversees the FDA) made the following statement:

"In the next three months the Food and Drug Administration will issue draft guidance on steps the food industry can take to create tracing systems that will allow us to more quickly detect the sources of contamination and more quickly remove the unsafe food from store shelves".

Also, the IFT (Institute of Food Technologists) is close to their deadline coming up in September in which they are to submit a report to the FDA following a one year project to inform the FDA of various traceability systems available and supply their recommendations based on their study.

There continues to be recalls in produce as many of you are aware. In several cases, the recalls were initiated by the source as opposed to the government. In those cases, it is good to note that all the products that were recalled were done so timely and to the best of our knowledge accurately and efficiently. In 2007, the PMA surveyed 128 growers, shippers and 58 retailers…I was reading an old article in the Perishable Pundit that referenced a letter from CPMA that referenced that survey and a portion of that indicated that 77% of the companies surveyed CAN CURRENTLY track one step up, one step back on their products. That is an amazingly high percentage that should be used as a base and built UP from, not discarded to start a new program for every company in the United States for traceability.

Also, various estimates indicate that approximately 15% of the nations supply of fruits and vegetables are imported and on some fruits that number is in the 50% to 60% range. Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, stated in the same press conference referenced above the following:

"The truth is it’s not unusual for us to snack on vegetables from South America, then pick up some fruit from the South Pacific and then go have a dinner with beef from Brazil”.

The message here is that when we consider traceability on fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States, we have to have a program in place that will accommodate imports as well as domestic products. FoodTRACE® addressed and resolved this issue in the initial development of our system. 100% of the bananas and pineapples for example are imported and they need to be traced just as importantly as does iceberg lettuce from California.

FoodTRACE® has collaborated with the University of Georgia to do a case study on the Salmonella Saint Paul event of 2008 which cost the tomato industry estimated losses of between $100 million and $250 million. The case study has been underway for several weeks at this point and we will update you when we have more definitive information on its finalization as well as the results.

Additionally we are scheduling a source to shelf real time trace back/trace forward project to trace product from a foreign country to a U.S. supermarket.

As a reminder, here are just a few of the highlights of the FoodTRACE® system….

· A centralized data base
· 24 Hour Traceability
· Department of Defense Security Levels on data
· Anomaly Detection
· Event Prediction
· Event Forecasting
· Access to your information in a variety of queries reporting levels
· Assistance with mock recalls
· Notifications of government requirements, guidelines, fees
· NO internal changes to your software
· NO hardware to buy
· NO numbers to buy

Easy to understand cost formula……..
1. A setup fee equal to your monthly fee
2. Monthly fee structure based on your annual sales
· Annual Sales <$5,000,000 $100 per month
· $5 to $10 Million $200 per month
· $10 to $25 Million $400 per month
· $25 to $50 Million $600 per month
· $50 to $100 Million $800 per month
· Annual Sales >$100 Million $1,000 per month

Reporting Locations over 1 @ $25.00 per month each

We will update you again soon …… Don’t forget to keep up to date as well with our blog -- www.usfoodtrace.blogspot.com
Feel free to leave comments on our blog or via our website www.usfoodtrace.com or simply by email to info@usfoodtrace.com.

Food Safety Bill Passes on Second Round

One day after the food bill was brought to the floor of the House of Representative with a 2/3 required majority vote that failed.....it went again to the floor under a rules so that a simple majority was needed to pass the bill and it did pass. Now it will be on to the Senate, more committees, more hearings, more adjustments and the talk on the "hill" is that it might be up for a vote by the Senate possibly in late September but that is just talk. We'll follow it and update as it moves thru committee.