The Centers for Disease Control estimates Vibrio (parahaemolyticus & vulnificus) causes 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths in the United States every year, most commonly from eating raw or undercooked seafood such as oysters. However, according to the co-chair of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference: "Our current [tracking] system…is inadequate.... More than half of all traceback investigations fail because the information in the value chain is lost."
With an SBIR Grant from NOAA, Shellfish Solutions piloted a digital traceability and marketing system that is lower cost than the existing largely handwritten system and more powerful: Saving users significant amounts of time while improving compliance.
The value extends beyond regulatory compliance. QR codes embedded on the regulatory tags gives farmers/harvesters the opportunity to tell their unique story directly to chefs and consumers--connecting the consumer with the producers of their food.
The increasing toll on consumer health from unsafe food is leading companies and regulators to look for a high quality, easy to use, and cost-effective digital traceability system. Without such a system many companies will not be able to meet the increasing regulatory requirements such as those from the new Food Safety Modernization Act.
The session will be a presentation on your experiences building this solution, what we learned about the traceability regulations, and the challenges companies face as they move from pen and paper to digital solutions.