Traceability Guidance Issued for Meat and Poultry Supply Chain

A new implementation guide for applying traceability standards in the U.S. meat and poultry supply chain has been published by the Meat and Poultry B2B Data Standards Organization. The document was developed with U.S. meat and poultry suppliers and retailers to provide consistent, practical product-traceability guidance for industry-wide use. It defines minimum requirements and best-practice recommendations for tracking products as they move from suppliers to grocery retailers. 

Contributors to the guide’s development include Butterball, LLC; Costco Wholesale Corporation; Farmland Foods; Perdue Farms; Safeway, Inc.; Smithfield Foods; Supervalu, Inc.; Topco Associates LLC; Tyson Foods; Unified Foodservice Purchasing Co-op, LLC; Walmart; and Wegmans Food Markets.

“We believe that this guideline will help promote a consistent approach to traceability both internally and externally,” said Gary Cooper, chief information officer, Tyson Foods, Inc. “It provides the fundamental steps for members of the meat and poultry supply chain to implement traceability practices that add value to their existing processes.”

The guidelines are based on global standards, and apply to all types of meat and poultry products. The document includes illustrations and photographs that demonstrate precise “how-to” instructions for use of numerical identifiers, bar codes and other standards needed for traceability.

The document was developed in association with AMS and the industry trade associations American Lamb Board, American Meat Institute, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Pork Board, and the National Turkey Federation, and is endorsed by these boards.

The guide is free and available for download at www.mpxml.org.