From Farm to Fork: Your Logistics Service Provider is your Partner in Food Safety

Designated by the United Nations General Assembly, June 7th is World Food Safety Day, when we recognize the global threat of foodborne disease and its impact on those who are exposed to consuming contaminated foods. This year the World Health Organization has joined the fight against exposure to foodborne disease and is leading efforts to ensure safe food now for a healthier tomorrow.

As the food we eat travels a longer distance, from farm to fork, the opportunity for the potential introduction of an organic pathogen, tampering or spoilage becomes even more possible. One weak link in the food safety supply chain, one participant who doesn't embrace a culture of food safety, could negatively impact the safety of consumers. Food Safety needs not only to be a priority, but also, perhaps more importantly, a core value.

There is a desperate need for supply chain partners, up and down the value chain, to become more collaborative with respect to data, documentation, process, measurement, and risk mitigation...including early warning systems.

In the cold chain, one of the most prominent opportunities for trading partner collaboration is to develop a comprehensive traceability solution (not only the where, or touched by whom, but also temperature and humidity) that allows full control and transparency of a product's journey. This might come in the form of digital data exchange, automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), block chain, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. 

An example of the proliferation of technology in the cold chain is the use of temperature controlled sensors to monitor food temperatures and track food storage conditions. These can be monitored in real time, and remotely. Alerts too can be set whenever an indicator delivers a signal that is considered out of specification.

Food safety is not a new mission for food chain participants. Rather, it's under a continuous microscope on a endless journey of improvement and toward a seemingly elusive perfection.

As an owner and operator of a network of food grade ambient, refrigerated and frozen warehouses...as a developer of cold chain warehousing technology, asset-based dry and refrigerated truckload carrier, and manager of various segments our customer's food chains, Sonwil has embraced a culture of food safety.

We are where you want your supply chain to be.