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TRACE 5th Annual Meeting and Conference: Lectures Parallel Session B TRACE in practice: New methods and systems for confirming the origin of food Freising (Munich) - Germany Traceability in the bulk grain supply chain
M. Thakur 1 , G. A. Mosher 1 , B. Brown 1 , G. S. Bennet 1 , H. E. Shepherd 2 , C. R. Hurburgh 3* Click here to view the PDF presentation This article summarizes recent efforts at Iowa State University to understand and improve bulk material traceability. Optimization of Internal and Chain Traceability Different lot-activities take place as the grain moves through the supply chain from the farm to the consumer. At an elevator, grain lots (inbound deliveries) are commingled to meet buyer specifications, and lot identity is not maintained. As a result, an outbound shipment to a customer can contain grain from many sources. In a food related emergency, it would be almost impossible to trace the problem source and to track other affected lots. This problem can be mitigated by an efficient internal record keeping system that would document all grain activities, including movement, aggregation, segregation, transformation and destruction. As a part of our traceability research, a relational database management system has been developed for internal traceability at a grain elevator. This system stores all the information related to grain lots and can be queried to retrieve information related to incoming and outgoing lots. This system can be used to trace back the source of a given lot and track forward information related to the shipped lots. Also, an optimization model has been developed for minimizing the traceability effort in terms of the quantity that would be recalled in case of food safety concern. A simulation based optimization technique is being developed to identify the critical points in the grain supply chain and propose changes in the storage and handling practices, with the goal of maximizing the profit from blending while minimizing the food safety risks. Mapping the milk supply chain Another project is examining the milk production supply chain. This case study uses internal and external traceability systems to track a processed milk product back to the grain that was fed at the dairy farm. This research will analyze the internal traceability systems of the dairy processor, dairy farmer, and feed producer and evaluate the intricacies of each system. The objective is to identify the gaps in the top level (dairy processor) of the external traceability system and provide quality control strategies that will improve the entire traceability system. The milk supply chain is a good grain-to-product case study because corn products account for over half of the feed ingredients in most rations. Corn is susceptible to aflatoxin which can be passed from the feed to milk in lactating animals. In addition, distillers dried grains and solubles (DDGS) are now being used as an ingredient in dairy cattle feed. If a contaminated lot of corn is processed for ethanol, the resulting DDGS will contain approximately three times the original amount of aflatoxin, or other problem substance. Role of Quality Management System Tracing in bulk products is a probability and elimination exercise. In an earlier study at a grain firm that was developing a quality management system, the accuracy of tracking improved steadily as operators became comfortable with basic recording procedures for handling operations. Accuracy is measured by ratio of potentially suspect product to the amount of contaminated product, or the traceability index. In over 50 trials, the ratio ranged from 1000 down to 10. Perfect traceability would be 1; unlikely to be achieved. The goal is to minimize the possibilities. Cost-Benefit Analysis Identity preserved (IP) grains are produced with a specific end use in mind such as for food, feed or pharmaceutical use. Likewise, some grains need to be isolated for particular end uses, such as buyers sensitive to biotechnology. These IP grains need to be segregated in order to preserve their identity. Traceability systems play a very important role in maintaining an efficient segregation system. It is very important to determine the profitability associated with segregation of grain for different purity levels. A cost-benefit analysis of an on-farm traceability system was conducted to determine if a particular IP crop at a specific purity level would be profitable to grow. The price per bushel increased as the purity level requirements increased. Farm management practices have a tremendous impact on expenses and ability to meet specific purity levels. A detailed cost and operational analysis protocol was designed to obtain meaningful results in cost benefit analysis. Decision making and Risk analysis The implementation of traceability systems often occurs through the use of quality management systems or International Organization of Standards (ISO) processes. This project will quantify factors involved with employee decisions concerning quality within the country elevator environment, identify needs for improved standard operating procedures and educational intervention. The risk analysis examines selected operations that affect grain quality from seed purchase to end user delivery using fault tree analysis. Fault tree analysis identifies contributing factors in complex systems, illustrates interrelationships of the causes of specified events, and quantifies probabilities of occurrence for each pathway of events. Those with the highest probabilities for negative consequences are targeted for educational intervention or other counter-measures. Although each component varies in focus, the underlying concept is to provide data to guide educational efforts in traceability for producers, processors, handlers and other actors in the agricultural supply chain. Final thoughts Various traceability issues in the bulk grain supply chain are being addressed by our research group. The main goal of the entire effort is to develop a methodology for implementation, quantification and optimization of traceability systems in the bulk grain supply chain for improving the food safety. From results at this point, improvement of traceability with supporting quality management systems has significant potential to increase profits through operational efficiency.
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