Produce industry leaders involved in a voluntary effort to facilitate traces of recalled foods say they're pleasantly surprised by the number of packers and shippers already using the special tracking labels they've developed.
Members of the Produce Traceability Initiative's Leadership Council, representing 32 companies in the produce industry, reported during the United Fresh Produce Association's recent trade show in San Diego that 22 to 50 percent of produce cases at buyers' distribution centers now have PTI labels.
The labels include the identity of the brand owner, identification of the product and a lot or batch number specifying when it was harvested or packed.
PTI is sponsored by United Fresh, the Produce Marketing Association, the Canadian Produce Marketing Association and GS1 US, a nonprofit organization that seeks to solve value-chain problems through implementation of common standards.
SOURCE: John O'Connell, Capital Press
http://www.capitalpress.com/newsletter/JO-PTI-052913