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The benefits of transparency and traceability in the meat supply chain
“Irish produced pigmeat has recently tested positive for the presence of dioxins. It is estimated that approximately 10% of pigmeat from the Republic of Ireland is affected by the current contamination with dioxins. However, as all Irish pigs are slaughtered and processed in a small number of processing plants, it has not been possible to distinguish between potentially contaminated and non-contaminated product. Therefore, as a precautionary measure all pork products originating from the Irish Republic have been recalled,” Food Safety Authority of Ireland, December 2008.
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n late 2008, the Irish pigmeat industry was dealt a severe blow. It had to recall all Irish pork products made over a three-month period after dioxins were found in slaughtered pigs that had been fed contaminated meal. Although less than 10% of pork products were potentially affected by the contamination, 100% of product had to be recalled. Had there been an effective farm-to-fork traceability protocol in place the contaminated product could have been reliably identified and recalled. This would have dramatically reduced the cost of the recall and the damage to the reputation of the Irish pigmeat industry. In 2008, there was a legal requirement for food businesses to be able to trace one step forward and one step back — food businesses had to know who supplied them and where their product had gone. However, there was no legal requirement for ‘process traceability’ — food businesses were not required to have traceability systems that could trace raw materials through the factory and into finished product. So there was no legal requirement for pork factories to be able to identify exactly which pork carcass from a particular farm went into each batch of finished pork product. This oversight resulted in the need for the 100% recall. Ultimately 30,000 tonnes of returned product were destroyed, as well as 170,000 pigs and 5700 cattle, with a cost to the Irish exchequer in excess of €120 million. This figure does not include the cost of the reputational damage to the Irish agriculture and food industries. The Irish Government also had to introduce
www.foodprocessing.com.au
November/December 2015
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MEAT, POULTRY, SEAFOOD
From paddock to plate or farm to fridge