YottaMark Inc has announced that adoption of HarvestMark has crossed the half-billion mark. More than 500 million produce items and cases are now HarvestMark-enabled to deliver trace-back capabilities to produce buyers and consumers.
Traceability is a burning issue for the produce industry, and one that is being addressed with coordinated programs such as the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) to help drive changes to improve whole chain traceability and enhance food safety response programs. Groups such as the National Watermelon Association have published commodity specific food safety guidelines that include traceability.
The recent announcement from the Obama administration’s Food Safety Working Group (FSWG), which includes the recommendation for a national trace-back and response system, and the food safety legislation pending in Congress underscore the role of traceability in shortening time between outbreak detection, resolution, and recovery. The PTI sets out a timeline for industry adoption. To comply with these new industry requirements, grower/shippers are deploying the HarvestMark PTI system to simplify and speed the assignment of Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) and apply PTI-compliant labels quickly and efficiently on all produce cases.
HarvestMark PTI systems can be used at the packing line, in repacking operations, in the field, or at the distribution center to automatically capture key harvest, packing, and repacking data, and produce the right traceability label at the right time. Traceability and product information is available on demand to producers and buyers via the HarvestMark.com portal.
HarvestMark traceability can be found on more than 500 million produce packages – including berries, watermelons, peppers, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, and table grapes. More than 50 produce brands across the United States and Mexico are using HarvestMark for their item and/or case-level traceability needs.
Visit www.HarvestMark.com to learn more.
