How Barcode Technology is Impacting U.S. Food Market

By Dawn Kehr, Freelance Correspondent for Source Technologies 

Three years following the last produce recalls of spinach in 2006 and tomatoes and peppers in 2008, the industry is still reviewing what it could have done to better protect the public and mitigate the financial losses and waste it incurred after pulling its products from store shelves nationwide. Along with the sting of history is the global reality that the world’s food chains are becoming more intrinsically linked. In an article for Consumer Goods Technology, Michael Forhez, Director of Industry Solutions, for Tata Consultancy Services, said that an estimated 10 to 15 percent of the food Americans eat is imported. The majority of these items are foreign-sourced produce and seafood.

To meet these challenges head on, in January, the Obama Administration signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) went into effect giving the Federal Food and Drug Administration broad investigative control to inspect food facilities. Industry analysts and those involved in developing traceability standards say FSMA goes even farther.  “[It] also requires that all players in the country’s food supply chain be able to quickly trace from whom they received a food product and to whom they sent it,” said Gay Whitney, senior vice president of industry engagement for GS1 U.S. 

While the federal government has not given distinct guidelines for compliance or deadlines as to when to expect enforcement to begin, the FDA has already identified industries of top priority. The produce industry is one of four sectors—along with food service; meat and seafood; and dairy and processed foods—that will be monitored. In anticipation of these regulatory demands, these four sectors have begun voluntarily  planning to address traceability methods within their sectors.

The food service sector has already identified process milestones through 2014 and has set an aggressive 75 percent traceability adoption rate by 2015. The produce sector’s action committee, The Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI), is not far behind.  The 32 companies represented—from packing to distribution--plan to support digitized barcodes on all outbound produce cases by the end of 2012. 

The members of PTI have adopted GS1 U.S. Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), barcode and Universal Product Code (U.P.C) standards at every level of their supply chain. While PTI is only concerned in the near future with traceability of GS1-128 case-level barcodes (Figure 1), the retail portion of the chain, which has been using the globally-adopted European Article Number (EAN) U.P.C for decades, will have changes to adapt to as well. 

As of January 2011, a newer unit-level barcode called GS1-DataBar, formally known as Reduced Space Symbology (RSS) (Figures 2-4)  allows retailers to access more detail about lot or serial numbers, and expiration dates. DataBar doesn’t replace the U.P.C.; it extends possibilities for applications on hard to label items like loose produce or smaller items.  

Side Bar: Case Level and Item Level Barcodes Used by the Produce Packing Industry

Case Level: GS1-128 (U.S.)

Another barcode still in its infancy, but steadily maturing is the two-dimensional (2D) quick response (QR) barcode (Figure 5).  Designed to be scanned by mobile devices, QR codes give retailers new opportunities to improve customer engagement with their brands by providing access to value-add content in publications, websites or advertisements.

 Two players in the European and U.S. produce markets—Total Produce and HarvestMark-- are leading the way.  As one of Europe’s largest produce distributors, Total Produce introduced its Smartpack packaging in April which incorporates a unique QR code for every produce item it sells.  Scanning the code gives customers instant access to an expansive video library at http://www.topfruit.com/, which shows shoppers how to prepare the produce they buy, or provides nutritional guidance. In the U.S., natural food retailer Whole Foods has joined forces with traceability application provider HarvestMark to give customers a firsthand look at where items like the store’s organic pineapples are grown and how they are handled.

This increased customer demand for knowledge about how food is grown and then using it to hold farmers, shippers and distributors accountable doesn’t surprise Stephen Thompson, president of Greensboro, N.C.-based Thomco, a provider of automated data collection and thermal-transfer printing devices to the food packaging industry for 30 years.  “Customers want to see the information on the package, Thompson said, “2D gives them paragraphs and pages of information on a 1x1 barcode.”

While he admits the industry has generally been slow to adopt traceability--and QR codes specifically--he believes adoption is moving from the West to the East coast.  While there are many reasons for this reluctance, one challenge facing QR codes specifically is how dependent the format is on print quality in order to be scanned and read by mobile devices properly.

A research study of QR code use in the EU, Canada and the United States released in January by GS1 UK and the Cranfield School of Management, found that 91 percent of mobile scans incorrectly processed product information stored in QR codes and 75 percent of scans returned no data at all.  When considered along with the normal challenges of extreme weather or temperature changes that can make labels blur from moisture or fade from heat exposure, it’s not hard to understand why QR isn’t a first choice in the produce industry.  

However, recent advancements in ribbon media and near-edge printing capabilities of thermal transfer printers have the potential to dramatically improve the quality and performance of these codes.  Dana Ritchie, president of PaladinID, said the STp.1120n is first of its kind to meet the demands for printing small DataBar codes or intricate 2D QR barcodes for the industry.

“With current thermal transfer printers, the ability to hold tight registration is difficult.  With the STp. 1120n, that problem goes away,” he said.  “If you have tight registration requirements or very small labels to print, this is the printer for you.”

Thompson agrees saying he has nearly a dozen blueberry and strawberry growers in New Jersey and Florida ready to test the printer within the next six to nine months.  

Aside from being able to address pending regulatory requirements or answer customer inquiries, early adopters of barcode and thermal printing technologies within the industry believe the true benefit of traceability extends to improving operational efficiencies across their entire organizations.

When Washington Fruit and Produce Co. of Yakima, Wash., implemented its barcode traceability system at its distribution center it increased productivity … a result they say they are happy to have gone the extra mile for.

“It seems complicated … but it’s a one-time expense and it saves so many headaches,” said systems operator, Mikey Hanks. “If you use it [traceability planning and hardware implementation] for internal controls, it’s like a freebie.  You pay the money to meet the government regulations, but you’re also using it to help your company too.”

For produce companies just beginning to plan their traceability processes, there are a myriad of print and online resources available to assist in the transition. Beginning the end of August, PTI began hosting a series of webinars that showcase how member produce growers, packers, shippers and warehouse centers are setting best practices for implementing traceability standards. Recordings and presentation slides for each of the six webinars are available at http://www.producetraceability.org/news_events/index.cfm.  U Connect, the GS1 U.S. online portal for discussion about barcode implementation and supply chain automation in several industries including food processing; clothing and general merchandise, and healthcare is available at http://uconnect.gs1us.org/.