Abstract
Food processing plants and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) need an excellent and reliable traceability system to ensure that consumers are well protected from consuming unsafe food. The traceability systems are being implemented by different food industries all around the world including Malaysia. This study aims to determine the implementation status of traceability system among food processing plants and SMEs. Another important goal is to identify the Critical Traceability Points (CTPs) in food processing and SMEs’ supply chains. A survey involving 17 processing plants and 53 SMEs from Kelantan, Malaysia, on the traceability and product recall system was conducted. The findings revealed that the food processing plants and SMEs are interested in implementing traceability system but they lack information and capital to carry out the system. Receiving (χ2=0.51; df=1; P<0.05) and dispatching (χ2=9.66; df=1; P<0.05) were identified as the CTPs in food processing plants and SMEs. Only 52.9% of the participants had implemented or were interested in implementation of traceability system. Several factors resulting in the lack of traceability implementation are due to time limitation, no perceivable benefits to the company’s economy and lack of clear policy guidance and support from government.
Highlights
The European law described traceability as the ability to track any food, feed, food-producing animal, or substance that will be used for consumption through all stages of production, processing, and distribution [1]
This study was conducted to determine the status of traceability through the food chain and to identify the Critical Traceability Points (CTP) of food processing plants and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Since the traceability system implementation in Kelantan, Malaysia, is new and not widely implemented, it faces many challenges which lead to major barriers to the success of the traceability implementation
Summary
The European law described traceability as the ability to track any food, feed, food-producing animal, or substance that will be used for consumption through all stages of production, processing, and distribution [1]. According to the International Standards Organization (ISO 8402:1994), the traceability is the ability to trace the history, application, or location of an item or activity by means of recorded identification [2]. The Codex Alimentarius Commission defines traceability as the ability to follow the movement of a food through the specified stage(s) of production, processing, and distribution [3]. The main objective of traceability is the identification and isolation of any potential contamination source that will enable the return and withdrawal of such products from the market [5]
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