Livestock Traceability: An Overview

Abstract

Traceability systems are record keeping procedures that show the path of a particular unit or batch of products, ingredients from supplier to consumers. Thus, completing the flow of food through documented identification and tracking, according to the concept “from farm to fork” and reversibly, “from plate to source”. This system follows a products route from raw materials to the selling stage. It is a complete flow by means of identifying and tracking procedures. Before designing a system of traceability, one must identify the different characteristics that need to be traced throughout the various steps in the processing chain. Recently, traceability has gained significant importance as it allows efficient identification, correction or removal of risk factors throughout the process in order to deliver safe and quality products to consumers. Traceability includes harvesting, transportation, storage, processing, distribution and marketing (external traceability) and on the other hand, to trace the history of the product at any stage in the internal chain traceability. Traceability is eventually used to ascertain origin and ownership of livestock and agriculture products. It is a tool to help countries meet their objectives of controlling, surveillance, biosecurity protection of the national livestock population, preventing and eradicating animal diseases and to deter fraud, theft and misrepresentation of live animals. Traceability is adopted by major meat exporting and importing countries. This improves marketability of products in international market. There is a growing worldwide trend for countries to implement traceability systems for livestock tracing by RFID, barcode, QR code and is clearly the dominant technology being chosen to achieve this aim.