To help prevent foodborne illness and better manage food crises in a changing global marketplace, business processes are guided by various regulations with a strong focus on food safety. The key is the ability to track and trace products at any point along the global supply chain, no matter how many trading partners and business processes there are between manufacturer and consumer. At a minimum, the so-called “one step up, one step down” principle is often included in regulations such as the U.S. Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 and the European Commission Regulation No 178/2002.
To be compliant with EU Regulation 1169/2011, wholesalers must receive nutritional, allergens, ingredient and other information about the product from suppliers. Wholesalers are required to make this information available electronically to their customers. This information can be shared between trading partners using data pools and the Global Data Synchronsiation Network (GDSN).