WO2007016937A1

WO2007016937A1 - Method for coding and securing the traceability of fruit and vegetables

Info

Publication number: WO2007016937A1
Application number: PCT/EP2005/008264
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bas R.A. Groeneweg
Original assignee: Perfo Tec Bv
Priority date: 2005-07-28
Filing date: 2005-07-28
Publication date: 2007-02-15

Abstract

A process for registering a number of data on a vegetable or fruit product, the information being printed on the product or its package by means of a controlled z laser beam, wherein that the data to be printed are stored in a computer system, having a non-ressettable memory for the storage of the data and the information contained in said data. The laser prints on the skin of Fresh Produce are protected against dehydration by use of an edible coating.

Description

Method for coding and securing the traceabilitv of fruit and vegetables.

The invention relates to a device for coding the skin of vegetables and fruit by means of a laser light beam. Such a device is generally known. Reference can be made to US005660747A.

The General Food Law has come into effect as from 1st January 2005. As a result, traceability becomes compulsory for anybody producing, manufacturing, processing, storing or distributing foodstuffs or animal feed in the European Union. With a good traceability system, a company should be able to withdraw from the market, quickly and accurately, products should there be a hazard for public health.

All companies tracing an unsafe product should notify as soon as possible the Foodstuffs and Foodproducts Authority (Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit - VWA). A company should be able, within four hours, to notify the involved buyers of a product and the suppliers. This is also true for the other links in the chain. As a result, within 24 hours, the whole chain involved in the product in question should be informed. The producers are themselves responsible for their products; depending on the situation, the VWA decide what measures they should take.

The General Food Law makes it compulsory for the producers to mention dangerous and inappropriate foodstuffs. The procedure for removing foodstuffs depends on the nature of the problem. The approach to the dangerous foodstuffs has priorities different from the approach to inappropriate foodstuffs. Dangerous foodstuffs are dangerous for health and are immediately removed from the market and the consumer is informed about this. Inappropriate foodstuffs are not appropriate for human consumption (for example, for decay or rotting reasons).

The General Food Law has come into effect as from 1st January 2005. As a result, traceability becomes compulsory for anybody producing, manufacturing, processing, storing, transporting or distributing foodstuffs and animal feed. With a good traceability system, a company should be able to withdraw from the market, quickly and accurately, products should there be a hazard for public health.

The European Commission is still working on a document wherein the General Food Law is further clarified. Such a document should be available approximately mid- January. The VWA have an idea regarding the European interpretation and based on it have elaborated guidelines for the Netherlands. If possible changes in the European policy are of a drastic nature, companies will have time to adapt their procedures consequently.

The ALV is part of the European approach for checking food safety. Such an approach was defined early 2000 in a white paper relating to food safety. The general principles and guidelines in the field of foodstuffs are valid as from 28th January 2002. The creation of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has also become a fact in the meantime. The compulsory traceability is the next step in concluding European food safety agreements.

A company producing (processing, etc.) foodstuffs or animal feed is and remains itself responsible for the safety of the products thereof. Companies themselves should check and decide whether their products meet the regulatory standards and are safe for human and animal consumption.

Traceability has become compulsory as from 1st January 2005 for all companies producing, processing or distributing foodstuffs or animal feed. Substances that are converted into foodstuffs or animal feed or animals producing such foodstuffs should also be traceable.

The VWA checks through a sampling method whether companies meet their duties. The VWA is accordingly a checking body and not a certification body. At first, a company should decide itself whether a particular batch is unsafe. If the VWA notices that a company does not take its responsibilities, the VWA will take some measures. Companies are to have an overview of the food safety hazards that a given production method encompasses. Such an analysis occurs based on the HACCP principle: an analyse aimed at establishing critical checking points. Companies should check such critical points carefully. This way, they reasonably guarantee safe products as far as known hazards are concerned. Despite such a system, there could however occur food safety problems, for example, as a result of human mistakes or dosing mistakes or because a hazard was not yet known or recognized. In such a case, only a good traceability system could make it possible that consumers are not unnecessarily faced with unsafe products. A HACCP system is not currently compulsory for animal feed producers and for farmers, horticultural producers and other companies in the primary sector.

As from 1st January 2005, producers should have available a traceability system. In such a system the following items should be mentioned:

• the way a company updates necessary data for traceability (administration: manual or automated)

• the measures that a company takes in case of unsafe products (traceability procedure).

At the request from the VWA, a company should be able to supply, at any time, information regarding such a traceability system.

A company should be able, at any time, to prove from whom and to whom products are received or supplied. This is the following data:

• where does the raw material (in so far as this is relevant) of such an unsafe product come from (name and address)

• the product type

• to whom were the unsafe products supplied to (name and address) • the delivery date

The traceability system should make it possible for companies to hand in such data within four hours to the VWA. The four hour time is valid per site. In addition to the compulsory data, it is relevant to notify, in so far as possible, relevant information about the product. One could think, for example, the receiving date for the products, label data, production code and size of a batch of foodstuffs, animal feed or raw material.

The traceability data should be stored for five years. Does the product contain a best-before date ? In such a case, the storage data is equivalent to the best- before date plus six months. A best-before date does not release a company from its responsibility to solve problems occurring after the best-before date. A company should consider the risks carefully when storing data for less than 5 years.

Such a traceability duty is applicable as early as the primary production, including the animal feed companies, up to the retailer himself. Or stated otherwise : from the animal feed company up to and including the supermarket. Each link is responsible for tracing one step after and one step before.

An internal traceability means being able to link raw material coming into the company to products leaving again the company. The internal traceability is not compulsory, but can considerably limit the extent of a crisis or a disaster and, thereby, also the extent of the removal operation.

For managing an internal traceability, a traceability analysis could be used. This is an analysis of times and actions that could be critical for being (remaining) able to trace foodstuffs and animal feed. Such actions could occur during the receiving step, the production process (processing), and the delivery of the final products. Think in such an instance of times of (possible) mixing upon the production process or residue processing or blending hazards during transportation.

The VWA does not specify any requirements to the extent of the batch to be removed. Companies should define the extent based on a traceability analysis that they should perform themselves. If a company cannot however show univocally to which products the food safety problem is limited, the VWA will consider every product from this company as unsafe.

The traceability of Fresh Produce currently occurs through a manual or automated recording of incoming or outgoing batches. Vegetables and fruit are often packaged in small quantities under films and are marketed with a label. Most often, vegetables and fruit are also sold loose in crates. Those crates should be provided with a label specifying the origin, often placed removably in a small crate compartment. In the current situation, there is not a satisfactory guarantee that the traceability of the origin of a vegetable or fruit batch is satisfactorily guaranteed when sold to the consumer. 4 reasons could explain this:

1. Human mistakes on recording, internal transportation, packaging and labelling. 2. Fraud with a class 2 product, being sold with a class 1 designation.

3. Fraud with a traditionally grown product, being sold as a biologically grown product.

4. Losing or switching labels, mainly in the case of sale in loose items, makes it difficult for the consumer to distinguish from which crate the product comes from.

5. In the final step from retailer to consumer the traceability is lost in case fruit and vegetables are not marked individually.

It has been found that by applying information by means of laser printing on the outer surface of vegetable and fruit, the skin of the products around the printing area becomes susceptible to dehydration. This is due to the fact that locally the skin has lost some thickness, whereby the underlying cells are loosing there humidity.

In order to avoid this problem it is possible to apply a coating or edible material to the area where the information has been printed, so that the dehydration effect is avoided. As coating, waxes can be used, such as Shellac, Carnuaba Wax or mixtures thereof. Also, especially under moisty circumstances, these waxes prevent the bleeding or any natural link, such as blackberry juice, that could be added to the print to improve the contrast between the colour of the skin and the print. The coating keeps the coloured printing readable. The application of such a coating can be done by means of any suitable coating method, such as spraying, brushing, rod coating.

By the use of this type of coating it becomes possible to use a so-called vector laser printing system, as any damage as a result of burning through the skin of the fruit or vegetable is cured by this coating. Up till now it was only possible to use dot machine laser devices in such systems, as they allowed controlled application of energy to the skin of fruit or vegetables. By using a vector laser device it becomes also possible to make continuous line images, which enhance the readability of the codes, but also allows to apply graphical information such as logo's or advertising messages.

Claims

1. A process for registering a number of data on a vegetable or fruit product, the information being printed on the product or its package by means of a controlled laser beam, characterized in that the data to be printed are stored in a computer system, having a non-ressettable memory for the storage of the data and the information contained in said data.

2. A process according to claim 1 , characterized in that the information contained in the data is representative and unique for the kind of product, the origin of the product, and the intermediate supplier of the product.

3. A process according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the computer system has a non ressettable clock, and that the time of printing is incorporated in the code.

4. A process according to any one of the claims 1-3, characterized in that at random pictures of the coded product are made and stored in a non- ressettable memory.

5. A process according to any one of the claims 1-4, characterized in that the code contains information about the number of coded products, the data, the time and the length of the production run.

6. A process according to anyone of the claims 1-5, characterized in that the printed area on the product is covered with an edible coating.

7. A process according to claim 6, characterized in that the coating consists of Shellac, Carnauba wax or mixtures thereof.

8. A process according to claims 6 or 7, characterized in that a vector laser printing device is used.