Report on GTR, Food Safety Leader
05 January, 2004
category: RFID
“In this particular supply chain, the physical product (the cow) often moves more quickly than data—like test results—about it. While a percentage of cows are always inspected for disease (including BSE and foot-and-mouth), a positive test result won’t show up until some time after meat has been tested, by which time it will be much further down the food chain. GTR tracks each cow, each pallet of meat products, each truck carrying cattle products, each bin used to prepare these products, and so on.
Once entered, a bad test result will link to all potentially affected products and all their potential sources, from feedlot to meat on a shelf. The right people can be automatically notified by e-mail, phone, and pager, allowing them to quickly isolate affected facilities and animals, and making it easier to repair damage to the food chain. (At some point, the data could even be linked to grocery store discount cards, allowing rapid consumer notification.)”
Global Technology Resources is in a unique position to capitalize on new food handling legislation. Strangely, Mr. Needleman reports GTR’s technology is largely secret due to the possibility of malicious tampering with the food supply its relationship with the Department of Homeland Security.