08/29/07 Food Safety Program

Food Safety Program. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. As much as it could be a plot for a new science fiction or horror movie the ability for a major contamination of our food supply could become a reality if measures to keep it safe are not taken. One Washington State company has put into place a comprehensive quality control program. Amy Eversole, Quality Assurance and Food Safety Manager with E. W. Brandt & Sons. EVERSOLE: We have a traceability system that is what really sets us apart. All of our inventory system is based on a bar-coding of each individual box. It's called a license plate system so every single carton that we pack has a unique bar-code so that we can track that specific box through the entire process. Eversole says that in the case of a recall their system would allow them greater control of the product. EVERSOLE: If something were to happen similar to what's happened out of California and different recalls that have happened in produce, we would be able to get one bar-code or some information off the box and we would be able to recall only the boxes that were affected. SO if was something that happened between certain hours, we would be able tp recall only those boxes and it makes a difference of a thousand boxes versus maybe 10 boxes. She says they can literally track a box within 30 seconds where other systems can take days and that would allow them to stop the shipment on the dock even before it is delivered to a store. She says their unique bar-coding system has been looked at as a separate product to market. EVERSOLE: At this point we are not in a position to market it but it has been discussed. There are still ways that it needs to be developed further because it is based on our systems that were already in place. Eversole explains one other difference that helps their system be more effective. EVERSOLE: Not only do we bar-code our boxes as they go out, we also bar-code all of our bins as they come in from the field but our bin tags have these unique bar-codes so that when that product arrives, we scan that bar-code and that goes into inventory as bin fruit. And then as we dump that product we scan those bins out and it allows us also with the traceability system we have, we're able to trace back to a certain number of bins which gives us even more control over our food safety program. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.