Cost and benefits of control measures: food traceability.

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines the costs and benefits of implementing the 24-hour traceability rule by examining the development of the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement. The LGMA was officially formed in September 2007 in response to the 2006 Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with bagged baby spinach produced on farms located in the Salinas Valley of central coastal California, USA. The case study provides an in-depth review of the costs and benefits associated with the implementation of traceability systems in California leafy green production, distribution, and retailing, which is an example of a tightly coupled, linear supply network. Since the implementation of the LGMA and its traceability system, there have been several timely interventions and fewer recalls, mostly voluntary lower class recall. This study makes its primary contribution to the goal of greater traceability by trying to show how the conditions that enable or impede traceability emerge from supply network structure. The study also suggests that investments in rapid-response, targeted trace-back systems could be cost-effective by minimizing trace-back response rates.