Food traceability system in India

Abstract

The need for food safety has arisen because of increasing awareness of consumers and concerns of the regulators regarding quality, hygiene and authenticity of food supplies. One of the tools used for assuring quality and safety in the entire food supply chain is providing reliable information through traceability. A survey was conducted to understand Indian food supply chain from product identification and traceability, industry preparedness for undertaking recalls across food categories, identification of gaps and recommend the way forward. The IT based traceability system for export supply chains was also examined. It was observed that barcodes are used primarily for price displays and low awareness on importance of food traceability system for assuring food safety was observed.