Food Tracking & Tracing in the Food & Beverage Industry
Tracking & Tracing is at the forefront every time an issue dealing with food safety occurs. The list of issues goes from the scandalous “mad cow disease” in 2001, prohibiting the sale of steaks with bones in Europe, to the “bird flu disease” in 2003 that occurred in the poultry industry in 2003, the cases of milk contamination with ITX in 2005 and the Chinese issue of melamine in milk powder in 2008, as well as the swine flu in 2009 and horse meat not declared on food labels in 2013, just to name a few.

Tracking signifies a group of processes that supply data, leaving traces along the entire process from the “farm to the fork (consumer)”, while tracing includes the reverse processes needed to collect data during the entire process and identify the various production, transformation and distribution operations. Operators in this sector must have systems and procedures in place that allow the relative authorities to access all the necessary information, or give them the possibility of identifying the companies that supplied products. The food items or feed put on the market must also be suitably labeled or identified to make tracking and tracing easy.

In addition, the European Regulation 1169/2011 has recently been introduced, which requires essential nutritional information that impacts health on food labels (starting December 13, 2016). Other important definitions will be proposed regarding this issue, for example, the definitions of “label,” “labelling,” and “readability” determined by various factors will be required, from the font size to the color print used and contrast between the written text and background.

As far as the United States is concerned, the most important regulations are listed in the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA), which became law in 2011 and is in the final execution phase. This act mainly covers the main preventative controls and traceability, providing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the legal authority to request controls along the entire food distribution and chain. Regarding traceability, the FSMA indicates four reference technologies: bar codes, 2D matric codes, RFID, integrated batch tracing systems based on labels and data storage.

The above is only a summary referring to the main points of the current standards, which can be seen in the official reference documents. However, it must be emphasized that the information to be placed on food products is regulated more and more, requiring automatic controlling and handling. Some of the technologies available for automatic identification and label inspection are discussed below.

Technologies
Bar codes are found on all food products that we buy. The most widespread format used is EAN13 (European Article Numbering - 13 digits) with the first 2-3 digits indicating the country (the country in which the article was produced is not obligatory, only the country in which the product is registered), the following 4-5 digits show the manufacturer’s code, the other 5 digits show the product code and the last digit is used for data verification (checksum).

Bar codes can contain limited and invariable information, but are usually used as reference codes to recall a large amount of information in the manufacturer’s or distributor’s database in order to handle food product tracking and tracing, if necessary.

Other standards require that some information is clearly visible and can be easily read, as, for example, the expiration date indicating that the product is best used before a certain date. The production batch should also be clearly indicated (the letter “L” followed by an alphanumeric code). This data can vary according to the batch, date and time and whether or not OCR characters (Optical Character Recognition) can be read by people and vision systems in order to automate reading and quality control operations.

QR (Quick Response Code) codes also provide interesting applications in the food industry. For example, Barilla presents a “special edition” box of pasta and jar of pasta sauce that allowed the customer to access information on all stages of the process.

Datalogic Solutions
Datalogic supplies a complete range of fixed and hand-held 1D and 2D matrix bar code readers, laser markers for writing codes and OCR characters, flexible and integrated vision systems (Smart Cameras) that provide multiple automatic identification operations and print quality control, labelling and packaging.

Laser markers and smart cameras are the main products used during the production phases. They check the OCR text printed on the package or label to make sure it is correct and easily read. They also check the quality of the label, making sure it is centered and printed correctly. During all the following automatic identification phases, from work-in-progress tracing to internal logistics, to the final point of sale, various bar code and laser scanners or fixed imagers or hand-held scanners can be used.

UniQ™ is the first ultra-compact “ALL-IN-ONE” laser marking system based on fiber laser technology. Thanks to compact dimensions, the rugged IP54 grade housing, the complete absence of an external controller and fiber optic delivery cable, UniQ™ laser markers are really unique. With 15W of optical laser power, the UniQ™ laser marker offers flexibility in marking on a wide spectrum of materials. The ultra-compact design and the high efficiency, low noise, cooling system allows for easy integration even in tight spaces and complex environments. UniQ™ laser markers are powered by the latest version of Ligher, Datalogic’s laser marking software suite, and offer maximum customer ease of use and great flexibility in system integration.

IMPACT+OCR is the fastest and most innovative solution for variable data printing inspection in the Food & Beverage industry. The solution includes a P-Series Smart Camera, a dedicated software and graphic user interface that allows quick configuration of any OCR inspection type (ex. Batch numbers, expiration dates) and traceability of serial numbers.

Matrix 120™ is the smallest ultra-compact industrial 2D imager that fits into any integration space. This is the newest entry level member of the best-in-class Matrix family of high performance industrial 2D imagers. The Matrix 120 imager leads the market for ease of use and has the highest industrial grade in its class; multiple models of the Matrix 120 imager allow it to cover an extensive range of data collection applications for food tracking and tracing.

The Matrix 210N™ is a 1D bar code and 2D matrix code reader (ex. Datamatrix or QR code) based on image technology that offers unrivaled high performance in a compact and versatile format, thanks to industrial connectivity and ease of use. This product provides more effective image acquisition with electronic variable focus and a completely renewable software to guarantee excellent reading performance.

The Matrix 300N™ is a ultra-compact image based bar code reader designed for performance on high speed and Direct Part Marking (DPM) applications.The Matrix 300N™ has an extremely high industrial protection class (IP67) by the new software DL.CODE, offering maximum customer ease of use. The Matrix 300™ combines a high resolution sensor with ultra-fast image acquisition: 1.3 megapixels, 60 frames per second. Matrix 300N™ features a large variety of optical models to satisfy all applications in the food manufacturing and logistics fields.

Datalogic offers the new industrial laser readers DS2100N and DS2400N for traditional bar code reading. These readers satisfy the most stringent application needs in the food industry, from industrial production and OEM applications inside automatic machines to logistics operations and inside automatic warehouses. The DS2100N and DS2400N readers are the best choice for short-medium reading distances and it is equipped with all connectivity options including PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, and Ethernet TCP/IP communication protocols.

The Gryphon™ product series from Datalogic represents the 'Premium' level of data collection equipment for general purpose applications. Designed with people in mind, the Gryphon™ GD4400 All-in-One imager blends advanced 2D decoding with motion sensing technology, producing a user-friendly device with outstanding performance. Featuring Datalogic’s Motionix™ motion-sensing technology, the Gryphon I GD4400-B imager senses the actions of the operator to automatically switch the device into handheld or presentation mode scanning. High Density (HD) models are also available for reading high resolution codes or reduced size codes.