RIFCOP : Practical Farm-To-Fork Traceability

Rapid Identification of Food COntamination Point

RIFCOP Overview

“Farm-to-Fork” traceability has long been the “Holy Grail” of the Food & Beverage industry, and a variety of government agencies as well.

A lack of supporting infra-structure, the complexities of the food chain, a desire for privacy amongst food chain members, and a lack of supporting laws have all contributed to the elusiveness of the goal.

RIFCOP uses existing technologies, practices, and laws to deliver on the “Farm-to-Fork” promise. In addition to the traceability aspects, RIFCOP also acts as an early warning system, provides a map denoting the food network itself, and significantly reduces the time and effort involved in determining the source of a contamination.

The end result is that RIFCOP has the potential to save lives, brands, and consumer confidence, while improving supply chains and without requiring major investments or major changes to existing practices.

A few background facts

• iCiX (international compliance information exchange) provides for the electronic exchange of quality and related data between trading partners. Currently they have over 20,000 customer locations, including the 5 largest food retailers in the US, and soon, all of their suppliers.– There is no cost* to become a basic iCiX contact

• SupplyTrace is an optional reporting tool that – Uses the customer’s existing receiving, manufacturing and shipping

data (or optionally can collect the data itself) to create complete “from ANY point to EVERY point traceability” within a manufacturing or distribution location

– In conjunction with iCiX, creates a network map of the entire food chain

*An iCiX subscriber can signup contacts for free, contacts can receive and respond , but not initiate inquires

The following clip demonstrates the basic concepts and operating

principals behind RIFCOP

RIFCOP’s Basic Concept

RIFCOP’s Basic Concept

• A food chain member creates a “Inquiry”, detailing the problem, sources, customers

• iCiX notifies each of those sources and customers

• SupplyTrace uses the iCiX communications to build a map of the supply chain

– Every contacted chain member becomes a node on the network map

– Every member-to-member communications becomes a link between the nodes

RIFCOP’s Basic Concept• This food chain map provides

a number of benefitsGives the “big picture” while protecting privacy

– Allows investigators to significantly reduce time and effort in locating a problem

– Shows domestic vs non-domestic suppliers and customers

– Shows level and response times for recalls (mock or others)

– Points out deficiencies in the supply chain

= the chain member themselves

iCiX ID’s

• RIFCOP is built upon the idea that every member of the food chain has been signed up and given their own unique iCiX contact id.

This assumption can be made, in part, due to the fact that – iCiX already has such a large market position– Getting the basic iCiX contact id can be a “no cost option”. Any

iCiX subscriber can sign up their customers and suppliers for a basic iCiX contact id.

– An iCiX subscription itself cost less than $200 annually. And that subscription offers a variety of other benefits.

• While SupplyTrace offers significant efficiencies and reporting capabilities , it is optional.

Details

1. What happens at the plant/factory?2. How much does RIFCOP cost ?3. How does RIFCOP trace from the retailer to the “fork”?4. How does RIFCOP reduce the effort in locating a

contamination ?5. How does RIFCOP protect privacy ?6. How does an “inquiry” end ?7. How long does an inquiry take ?8. How does RIFCOP protect brands and Industries ?9. What about distribution ?10.How can RIFCOP break ?

EXIT

Details

1. What happens at the plant/factory?2. How much does RIFCOP cost ?3. How does RIFCOP trace from the retailer to the “fork”?4. How does RIFCOP reduce the effort in locating a contamin

ation ?5. How does RIFCOP protect privacy ?6. How does an “inquiry” end ?7. How long does an inquiry take ?8. How does RIFCOP protect brands and Industries ?9. What about distribution ?10.How can RIFCOP break ?

EXIT

How long does an inquiry take ?

• Communications between partners is nearly instantaneous however the time it takes for a member to get their data together and respond is dependent on the number and tools at each location

– Locations WITH SupplyTrace• A simple cut and paste from the received iCiX email and

SupplyTrace retrieves all effected customers, suppliers and inventory data. The location need only approve sending it

– Locations WITHOUT SupplyTrace • Paper based records systems can easily take several days• Electronic systems are much faster HOWEVER if they do not

SupplyTrace they will need to create an equivalent reporting system and do a significant amount of data entry

What about distribution ?

• While non-manufacturing/packaging distributors are an important link in the food chain, RIFCOP ignores them UNTIL it can be determined that a product left a manufacturer/packager good but arrived at the receiver bad.

Here is why : • In MOST cases the distributor is the LEAST likely chain member to impact

the product (intentional alteration, temperature problems, etc are exceptions)• A single package might go through many distributors – never altering the

product• Distributors do not record lot data, etc but ,per FDA 306 and others, the

receiver is required to record the manufacturer/packager of products – So placing a distributor who does NOT record lots between the receiver

and the manufacturer/packager – important lot data would be lost

How can RIFCOP break ?

• Every system is subject to GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) but RIFCOP can offer some protect and recovery – The supplier and customer both enter data into RIFCOP and if it does

not agree , much like a dual entry bookkeeping, it can be identified.• i.e. if a customer receives an item, lot or manufacturing date that a supplier

does not make it is either an error or the result of a deliberate act

• A chain member does not report all of its effected customers and suppliers – Will only be discovered if the unreported chain member gets contacted

through another source.

• A chain member does not respond – the chain member who sent the request to the non-responding member will receive notification about the lack of response.

How does RIFCOP protect brands and Industries ?

• When locating a problem – faster is better. – Spinach : the supply chain was so large and convoluted that, even after

a protracted effort, the FDA could not establish the chain and was forced to act against ALL spinach

• Foxy Brand lettuce had similar issue but knew lot dates, where and when it went – recall barely made the news

• Without a supply chain map, even good companies make wrong conclusions – Taco Bell : The only obvious common source of products for effected

restaurants was scallions. Further examination proved so was the lettuce – only after damage to scallions industry

– Pet food, Menu Foods, etc : after wheat glutton was wrongly established as the only common source. Late discoveries of shipments to Canada; brand after brand had the problem ; some who touted their safety were pulled after wheat flour – not glutton was established as likely suspect.

Ending an Inquiry

• An inquiry naturally end when all of the responding members have indicated they have no more supplies or customers to communicate to.

• The initiator can request the inquiry to end.

Protecting Privacy

• Each member controls which of their suppliers and customers are notified and told about which items and/or lots

• Members who have SupplyTrace can see the entire supply chain, but not the supply chain members names or products

RIFCOP Concept

In the following model, a VERY small and simple supply chain is introduced.

But even in this small model, when all three retailers report the same symptoms – the common source ingredients are not obvious.

RIFCOP Concept, cont

While not obvious even in this case, there is one and only one ingredient that the three retailers share.

This would be the obvious place to start looking

RIFCOP Concept, cont

Slightly more complex is when a symptom only occurs when the same two specific ingredients or lots appear in the same finished product

(as is now suspected in the pet food incident)

RIFCOP Concept, cont

By removing the “non” common items, what ever is left can be tested as separate items or , in conjunction with each other.

RIFCOP reduces the enormous complexities of the chain by making each manufacturing link responsible for

reporting only their own data.

By graphically identifying the supply chain, then picking a “midpoint” on the chain - “binary searches” can reduce a 500 member chain to , at most, 9 separate members that need to be tested…assuming we know what to look for.

How does this get from retail to the “fork”?

• The RIFCOP process for getting from the farm-to-retailer is fairly obvious

• Getting from the retailer to the end consumer (“fork”) requires a small shift.

Assume Acme grocery store has “customer loyalty card” and accepts Visa credit cards– A brand manufacturer uses RIFCOP to inform Acme of the problem and

Acme wants their affected customers called and emailed– Acme uses loyalty card data to determine purchaser contact and sends

data to iCiX– Acme uses Visa records and informs Visa as to the card numbers of the

affected customers• Visa informs iCiX with contact phone numbers, etc

– iCiX phones* and emails all consumers with warning

* Emails are free , phone calls are billed at a standard rate - currently 20 cents per call

What happens at the plant /factory ?

• The designated iCiX contact(s) at the plant receive an e-mail from iCiX detailing their customer’s and/or supplier’s items that are being traced, and the reason why

• SupplyTrace owners – Cut and paste the items into SupplyTrace and OK the results

• NON-SupplyTrace owners– search through their records, cross-referencing, receipts,

manufacturing records, shipment records, etc , completing a list of THEIR effected customers and suppliers

– Go to iCiX to determine those customers and suppliers iCiX ids,– Fill in a spreadsheet with all the items, customers, suppliers, etc

and email to iCiX

What happens at the factory ?

Cut & paste the item or lot or vendors, lot, from the iCiX email or research names etc from here

What happens at the factory ?

The ingredients that went into that item/lot are displayed here

The items that this lot went into are displayed here

What happens at the factory ?

By pressing this button a list of all the associated suppliers and

customers of the below involved inventory is displayed and the user

can decide which to have iCiX notify

What happens at the Plant ?

• Owners of SupplyTrace will be able to see the Supply Chain network map and determine the progress of the recall, their place in the supply chain, most likely commonality points etc

Costs

• iCiX membership is $199.00 a year per location* (includes the quality specs, COA exchange, etc).

Non-members will still be contacted in the event of a recall, however, adding additional contacts to the list requires iCiX membership

• SupplyTrace is $5,000 plus any installation assistance to link to existing data source

* Additional fees may apply for help assimilating spreadsheets into the recall process, etc

RIFCOP’s Basic Concept

• A food chain member creates a “Inquiry”, detailing the problem, sources, customers

• iCiX notifies each of those sources and customers

– Each source/customer identifies their items , sources & customers, to iCiX

• Etc., etc

• SupplyTrace uses the communications to build a map of the supply chain

• Supply chain members act on the finding

What happens at the factory ?

Cut & paste the item or lot or vendors, lot, from the iCiX email or research names etc from here

The ingredients that went into that

item/lot are displayed here

The items that this lot went into

are displayed here

By pressing this button a list of all the associated suppliers and

customers of the below involved inventory is displayed and the user

can decide which to have iCiX notify