IBM Develops Technology to Improve Food Safety

The Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2009 IBM Develops Technology to Improve Food Safety RFID Tags, Augmented With Software, Aim to Track Products and More Quickly Organize Recalls in Event of an Incident · Article By JESSICA HODGSON

International Business Machines Corp. is experimenting with a technology that tracks food by monitoring the condition, quality and location of items, with the aim of preventing or mitigating food-contamination outbreaks. The technology, which uses Radio Frequency Identification tags or bar codes, makes it much easier to identify the sources of food items, organize recalls of problem foods and prevent the spread of food-related outbreaks. Producers and retailers also can use the technology to maximize food stocks.

IBM's system uses software to augment data from RFIDs and bar codes that producers routinely use for logistical purposes with analytical tools that monitor the condition and quality of food items. These tools allow collection of details such as which herd a piece of beef came from or at what temperature a crate of strawberries was stored. If something goes wrong, companies and authorities can pinpoint where the problem food is, arrange a recall and hope to minimize the number of people affected. "When a food producer packages cartons of strawberries, the system can assign a unique number to each box," said Paul Chang, an expert in sensor technology at IBM. "If there's a unique bar code and two boxes of strawberries take two different paths to the distribution center, this software can track the paths each box has taken."

IBM isn't the only company targeting such products. Microsoft Corp. and Motorola Corp. both offer RFID-based systems aimed at the retail sector. The IBM technology is still relatively new, but it is starting to gain traction with food producers, retailers and government agencies. Are Bergquist, the chief executive of the Matiq unit of Norwegian egg-and-meat producer Nortura BA, said the technology has greatly cut the time required to find troubled products, a periodic problem in the food industry.

"Back in 2006, we had an outbreak of e. coli in Norway," Mr. Bergquist said. "It took us six weeks to trace the outbreak to a product range from our parent company. If we'd had an RFID-based system like this in place we could have cut that time to a tenth."

Hawaii's Agriculture Department is testing a similar system that uses scanners from Motorola and software from GlobeRanger Corp. to track produce. The department hosts and funds the system, which enables food producers who can't afford sophisticated software to participate.

Food producers are supplied with hand-held readers, which monitor the progress of produce throughout the food chain. The data are fed onto the Internet for health officials.

"If a retailer is made aware of a box of tomatoes which have a high chemical contact, it can be traced rapidly via the Internet," John Ryan, who runs the program, said. "You get instant feedback."

Of course, technology won't necessarily be the end of all problems in the food industry.

Mr. Ryan said that although many firms are using technology to track their own products, many are unwilling to share proprietary data.

The Produce Marketing Association, a trade group, said current tracing systems are effective enough and questions the need for costly technology upgrades. "People have already invested a lot of money on their internal traceability systems," said Kathy Means, a spokeswoman for the association. "People need to share information, but it doesn't need to be electronic."

The association recommends the use of bar-code technology and points out that RFID can be difficult to track after exposure to water. Health officials also note that complex systems, such as IBM's, may be prohibitively expensive for many small farmers and growers.

But Matiq's Mr. Bergquist said tracking food with chips and bar codes has a business benefit, in addition to promoting public health. For example, temperature monitors can help redirect food that is approaching the end of its shelf life to ensure that it is sold, rather than thrown away. "If a shipment of carrots arrives at a docking bay in the U.K. destined for Aberdeen in Scotland, but has been over its maximum storage temperature, you could reroute it to Oxford, which would be quicker," Mr. Bergquist said. "This means we don't have to throw it away."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has no plans to mandate the use of technology in produce tracking, though it requires that companies keep records. "Interoperability doesn't require technology," said David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods. But he conceded that software systems can be effective and with RFID prices set to come down, said he expects tracking technology like this will play a bigger role in the food industry in the future.

Write to Jessica Hodgson at [email protected] THE PACKER August 11, 2008

SUPPLY CHAIN SPOTLIGHT Hawaiian study outlines future of traceability By Brian Frederick, Staff Writer

Traceability program case study funded by the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii through the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation has nearly completed its initial run with positive results, according to John Ryan, quality-assurance administrator for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.

"We seem to be doing fairly well," said Ryan, who is overseeing the project. "We always have little glitches, but we're very close to having this system go live to the public."

The system, which began implementation in March, provides RFID tracking devices to growers, packers, shippers and retailers, Ryan said.

"We have, at this point, four farms we're working with," Ryan said. "We have tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, papaya, pineapples and eggplant that we're tracking." Some of the farms are using the state's agriculture department tagging systems, while others are tagging and reading their own boxes, Ryan said.

"We've set up a centralized computer that collects the data and brings it in over the Internet," Ryan said. The pilot program runs through Armstrong Produce, Honolulu, the largest produce distributor in the state. The products are then tracked to four Foodland Super Markets, the retail location for the pilot program, Ryan said. Eventually, consumers and members of the supply chain can trace produce items.

"(We're) developing dashboards that allow anyone in the supply chain to log in, and see status, dwell time and trim time," Ryan said. "(They can see) almost in real time where their inventory is, where it's going to be, and where it's been."

This will improve food safety, he said, because it will be very easy to identify others in the same shipment. "The system lets you double-click on a tag number, and the system will find all related cases in that shipment and tell you where they are," Ryan said.

In addition, the state plans to establish a Hawaiian food certification process. "There will be requirements to receive state certification," Ryan said. "(Members of the supply chain) will need certification and this system will allow them to do that." Part of the certification requirements will be risk assessment, Ryan said. "Anyone who applies, we'll collect water, soil and produce samples from the farm and analyze them for contaminants," Ryan said. "In addition, we'll also require a preliminary certification audit." This certification can serve as a marketing tool for supply chain companies, Ryan said. "Our system will show who has passed (certification), or where a company is in the certification process," Ryan said. As a state system, Ryan hopes the traceability program will help many different food supply chain associations and companies.

"We're planning on hosting (the associations) and giving them new technology that we call value-based advertising," Ryan said. "The intent is to get traceability under control, but also to provide a powerful marketing initiative for companies."

The case study will be presented at a workshop at the RFID World 2008 conference Sept. 8-10 in Las Vegas. Geared toward agriculture, produce and meat processors and distributors, the workshop covers food safety, temperature monitoring in the supply chain, strategies for integrating paper and product trails and leveraging RFID-enabled visibility across the supply chain.

RFID Excellence in Business Awards 2008

AWARDS PROGRAM

Awards Presentation

September 8, 2008, at MGM Grand, Las Vegas

Sponsor and Administrator

RFID Revolution (www.RFIDRevolution.com) Representative: Leslie Downey

Judges

 Laurie Sullivan, Editor, RFID World Online -- Lead Judge  Dr. Dan Dobkin, Proprietor, Enigmatics  Ann Grackin, CEO, ChainLink Research  Sue Hutchinson, Director of Industry Adoption, EPCglobal North America  Sandip Lahiri, IT Architect, IBM Software Group, IBM  Doug Martin, Consultant, RFID Applications  Greg Matula, Program Manager, RFID Operations, Hewlett-Packard  Dan Mullen, President, AIM Global (Association for Automatic Identification & Mobility)

Award 6 – Protecting the Environment

Recipient: Hawaii State Department of Agriculture (Dr. John Ryan, Administrator, Quality Assurance Division)

Accepting Award for Hawaii State Department of Agriculture: Dr. John Ryan

Project Title: Food Safety through an RFID Food Traceability System

Judge’s Summary: The winner of the RFID Excellence in Protecting the Environment award is the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture, for their work with the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation in utilizing RFID as a cost effective and efficient means of providing accountability and security within the food supply chain for produce. The project was funded by the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii and was piloted with fresh fruit and vegetables products from several of the state’s largest produce suppliers. Designed by Lowry Computer with software provided by Globe Ranger, it encompassed a “Farm to Retailer” approach to traceability. Handheld readers and fixed portal readers were used at strategic tracking and transfer points to establish traceability. A unique factor for this project was the collaboration of various organizations and operations to adjust processes in order to provide data into this valuable system. A web interface is made available for all parties involved, to provide a conduit for tracking items through the handling routes and back to their source.

With the many episodes of food scares that have occurred in recent years, this system provides hope for investigating issues quickly. The environmental impact provided by this use of RFID is the protection of the human species. The faster pedigree can be determined for produce, the faster food contamination causes can be identified and the lower the health exposure risk is on the human species. The project was developed with the intention of shared information. This includes the willingness to share program information and build this system to allow other states to join. The Hawaii State Department of Agriculture has taken the lead and demonstrated the benefits of using RFID as an investigative measure in addressing our food supply chain safety issues. This project has the potential for being expanded not only to other states, but also as an international effort. Congratulations to the team.

Judge: Greg Matula, Program Manager, RFID Operations, Hewlett-Packard