Traceability Management for the Food Safety along the Supply Chain Collaboration of Agricultural Products

Abstract

The heightened awareness of food-related safety issues among food consumers drives the demand for more information about the vertical and horizontal food supply chain of food products. Transparency in the way agriculture was grown and handled throughout the supply chain process resulted in an important issue of 'traceability' in global food trade and safety. Traceability is an essential subsystem of quality management and must be managed by setting up a traceability system, which keeps the data tracking of product routes and of selected attributes. A collaborative research project for the supply and logistics of agricultural products in Tianjin was proposed recently. System analysis for the traceability information of the food supply chain is studied. Specific requirements and the system architecture for the logistic management solutions are proposed. Development of this research is crucial for both the public traceability system as well as the private traceability system. The consumers’ confidence for food safety choices can hence be improved.