Bringing transparency to meat and poultry processing through the ability to track and trace products from the farm through the supply chain to the table is a complex challenge. It is, however, one worth addressing as consumers and retailers start to expect and demand it.
Government agencies are taking note of the potential for traceability to improve food safety as well. Following an in-depth investigation into a 2017 Salmonella outbreak involving ground beef, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) noted that traceability would make identifying the source of an outbreak much easier: