Security Printing and Imaging : Recall, security

Pork Recall, Part Two...

StevenSimske — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:40:00 GMT

I chatted with my friend and fellow HP colleague, Mick Keyes, a business/technology strategist in Dublin and an expert on Track and Trace, about the Irish pork recall. Mick provided me with some of the personal aspects of the recall.

According to Mick, This a bad one ok. The effects are becoming obvious. Over 1000+ workers laid off in past few hrs as processing plants grind to a halt. 12 EU sites have banned all Pork from Ireland (this is a 400 Million euro export business that is affected). You can see how the whole banking/Credit crunch is intersecting with this in real time. Plants can't get credit to pay workers or suppliers so its immediate "close down" and layoff workers. Industry now reckons this is going to cost $1 billion over all..and they want a Govt. bail out. Retailers want compensation. Consumers want compensation. It is a mess. Very sad listening to small family owned business crying on radio shows in abject desperation. The size of recall (i.e. ALL pork products/Whole industry ) is raising question about how effective Traceability systems are in protecting those that haven't done "anything wrong".

Terrible to think about all these affected people, with little recourse. And, they have to pull all products when 10% (of the farms) of the 10% (dating from the correct period) of the products on the shelf are affected. Not a sustainable method forward. As times get tougher and wallets thinner, we're simply going to have to have a better way to manage how we separate the good from the bad. And, with higher confidence so consumers do not turn away from the industry en masse. Tomatoes, milk, pork--that just about covers my Uncle's entire diet. If Guinness is recalled, he's going hungry for the Holidays. I'll bet he's noticing. Food may be the tipping point that many thought pharmaceutics would be.

The point on the availability of credit cannot be overstated. Without access to easy credit--a reversal of the past 15+ years--there is no margin for error. When profits can't be made, there's nothing in reserve. The just-in-time supply chain can quickly become the just-no-time response. If there's no slack in the system, then contingencies must be incorporated in the design. In future blogs, I will describe how come of these concerns are being addressed.

-Steve

Irish Pork Recall another Track and Trace Debacle

StevenSimske — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:06:00 GMT

The latest food recall is a potential disaster for one of Ireland's biggest industries. On the second week of the Advent season (right when shopping for Christmas ham is hitting its stride), consumers have been asked to destroy all Irish pork products dating back to September for fear of dioxin contamination. Because of the nature of track and trace systems currently in place, this may amount to as much as

More information on the reasons for the recall are given at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7769893.stm

According to the Telegraph (a big UK news service), the pork industry is Ireland's fourth largest industry, with Ireland's 400 pig farms (providing work for 7,000 people in Ireland, including 1,200 on the farms) contributing about 400 million Euros (approximately 600 million dollars) to the Irish economy each year. The contamination of the pork was traced back to animal feed from one supplier used in more than 40 farms. Based on this, 90% of the pork destroyed will probably be wasted (i.e. no contamination), but since the dioxin concentration in the contaminated pork is 80-200 times the safe level for consumption, there is little room for error.

Also, about 90% of the pork products on sale were processed before September, and it is not obvious that or how this will be taken into account in the recall. Clearly, a substantial percentage of the pork products are contaminated, but much uncontaminated pork will be destroyed as well. A full-compliance, global produce track and trace system would not only reduce the waste, but would increase consumer confidence in the recall. Even with the wide swath of recall, will some contaminated products be missed?

It's bad enough that the pork producers suffer a devastating hit to their industry in an already treacherous economy. It's far worse to know that the damage may be much worse than it has to be.

-Steve

Do You Recall This Much Recall?

StevenSimske — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:04:00 GMT

We are rolling into the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the States, which traditionally coincides with a modicum of gluttony. Historically, the time right after harvest was the time of festivals--might as well eat the food and let it ferment inside you rather than your cellar!. Given the recent news and FDA announcements, one wonders what is safe to eat at all...

The youngest might not want their formula:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081126/ap_on_he_me/infant_formula_6

Don't put tomato sauce on your veggies:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/wegmans11_08.html

Heck, don't have the veggies, period!:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/stopnshop11_08.html

Don't try cheese as an alternative dessert:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27914220/

Or an alternative cheese as an alternative-alternative!:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/panos11_08.html

Don't try a dietary supplement in place of the big meal:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/balancedhealth11_08.html

Or try fat loss capsules to keep the weight off!:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/fashionsanctuary11_08.html

And don't try rewarding the pooch with an extra helping:

http://www.petcare.mars.com/

Guess it's time to start that diet! Either that, or time for a reliable food track and trace mandate. On that sour (sweet, bitter, salty, MSG or other taste, for that matter) note...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers, Steve

ePedigree Delay a Sign of An Eventual Supply Chain U.N.?

StevenSimske — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:49:00 GMT

I have been remiss in discussing the delay in the California ePedigree until 2015. This has been interpreted as a long-term delay for track and trace and overall product safety. For a nice overview and analysis of the problem, see http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=17793.

However, ePedigree initiatives are underway by the WHO, FDA, EU, AQSIQ (China), GS1 and other standards/regulatory organizations. A full serialization+pedigree requirement may be delayed until 2015, but it is unlikely that ePedigree will not already be in place before then. Recent passing of PRO-IP and Country-of-origin labeling (COOL) legislation in the US indicates that the US,too, will continue with initiatives before 2015.

The delay of California ePedigree legislation, moreover, may be indicative of another passing of the torch. Much as the recent Presidential (and Congressional) election results likely signal a more collaborative, less "independent" US foreign policy, the delay in ePedigree may signal a more collaborative, less independent nation-to-nation legislation in the future.

Will the big players--WHO, FDA, EU, AQSIQ, GS1, ISO, and others--work together to create a reasonable roadmap for product track and trace, pedigree and provenance? In effect, create a "United Nations" for track and trace? I, for one, hope so. With the increasingly convoluted supply chains for virtually all products resulting in chaos during recall, fraud and even normal node-node shipping situations (how many retailers can confidently tell you everywhere a product has been on its way to their shelves?), how long can it be before the legitimate market says, "enough is enough"? Plus, a universal process will reduce confusion, lower cost, and improve response time around the planet.

Is the current combination of counterfeiting, diversion, factory overrun, smuggling, return fraud and other supply chain crime the commerce equivalent of the two World Wars? A series of events so drastic that the set of collective players decides to band together into a United Nations to try to prevent such a meltdown in the future? (I realize the United Nations is by no means perfect--but we have been without nuclear combat for 63 years...). Maybe so. And maybe the delay in the California ePedigree shows that the US, rather than defining the path forward, is willing to work with the rest of the Supply Chain United Nations in formulating the optimum set of requirements moving forward.

-Steve