Even as they reassured the public that the nation's beef supply was safe, federal officials in December were scrambling to find out where the single, infected Washington state cow was when it contracted mad-cow disease and where its meat was sold. While the discovery of BSE has had a marked financial impact on the United States' beef industry, it also has strongly underscored the need for better food traceability.

Rep. Tom Osborne (R-NE) just this month introduced a bill (H.R. 3961) to require the Agriculture Secretary to implement a new, phased-in animal identification program. Under the bill, beef and dairy cattle over 30 months old would need to be identified within 60 days of enactment. Beef and dairy cattle 30 months and younger would need to be identified within 90 days, other ruminant livestock within 180 days, and other livestock within one year of enactment.

As the government grows closer to establishing the identification program, there's no shortage of companies hoping to play a role in implementation. "We have almost a thousand customers who are looking to us for answers and assurances that they will be compliant," notes David Warren, president and chief executive officer, eMerge Interactive, a Sebastian, FL-based technology company providing individual-animal tracking, food safety, and supply procurement services to the U.S. beef production industry. "Second, we feel that the government will need help in this effort. We possess the personnel, systems, experience, and infrastructure to help the USDA accomplish this monumental task."

eMerge's core animal tracking product, known as CattleLog™, is comprised of three separate components: data collection, a central database, and a reporting tool. The CattleLog™ product works for users with just a few cattle and no computers or technical experience, as well as high-volume feedyards with very technical users. All CattleLog™ products are certified as Process Verified Programs by the USDA for Animal Data Collection and Reporting.

Warren explains that CattleLog™ was designed, with significant producer input, to make the collection and decision-making portion functions of data management as simple and easy as possible. "We have users that are operating our product in almost every imaginable situation, and the system adapts itself to their needs very quickly and easily."

Osborne, KS-based Osborne Industries, meanwhile, distributes several brands of ISO-standard radio frequency identification (RFID) and associated reading technology. The company provides field-tested, hand-held data loggers, computers, and various readers as part of its eLog™ product line.

"Our main service is integrating complete systems including the user software for automated RFID-driven management systems," explains Shana Guttery, automated systems product manager, Osborne Industries. "These systems, such as our TEAM™ (Total Electronic Animal Management) system for managing the feeding, breeding activities, birthing data, and other lifecycle events for animals is a good example of how animal tracking and identification can be used to aid decision-making for producers and help integrate the flow of production data from the farm to the packing plant and beyond."

In another approach to animal tracking, Ft. Collins, CO-based Optibrand Ltd. collects retinal-vascular patterns, biological traits or "fingerprints" that are different for each animal, with its OptiReader™ Device. This pattern is linked with a Global Positioning System (GPS) that automatically encrypts the date, time, and location along with the image in a central database when the animal's eye is scanned, proving beyond doubt that "this animal was in this place at this time," says John Cravens, marketing and communications director, Optibrand.

Because the database contains GPS data, users can precisely and rapidly track individual animal movements and the movements of all other animals that are associated with the original animal of interest. "Secure animal identification is the most important issue when tracking livestock in BSE cases," observes Cravens. "Biometric identifiers are the only secure method that can be used to identify livestock."

Longmonth, CO-based AgInfo­Link USA, meanwhile, offers traceability solutions including CattleCard™, a paper-based chute-side data collection solution; BeefLink™, the industry's leading chute-side data collection software program, including a comprehensive suite of data analysis and reporting tools; TagTracker™, a rugged RFID reader capable of reading EID tags from multiple manufacturers; and Pony Express™, a data-sharing solution designed to move individual food production data from one point in the supply chain to another. This patented technology is the foundation of AgInfoLink's Food Inform­ation Highway™.

"The core of AgInfoLink technology is found within our secure data-sharing solutions. Our data-sharing solutions provide information on food products as they are transformed from raw ingredients to finished food products allowing producers, processors, and retailers to make informed management and marketing decisions," explains Courtney Oldham, marketing director, AgInfoLink. "AgInfoLink products and services connect the food chain so that in the case of a food emergency, supply chain partners can quickly identify and isolate suspect product."

Among Platte City, MO-based IMI Global's product lineup is the Web Integrator™ software package, which automates a USDA Process Verification System or in-house verification system. Information and data is accessed in real time on the user's own Web site. Web Integrator™ replaces paperwork with a customized program, complies with USDA/COOL (Country of Origin Labeling) regulations, and offers a secure method for suppliers to access information from the processor's server, among other benefits.

IMI's Chuteside™ and Chuteside Lite™ (data captured in a handheld device) allow operators to electronically capture individual animal data at the chute. Beef Passport™ is a Web site built for individual animal traceability that fully complies with the U.S. Animal Identification Plan, and it offers 48-hour trace-back capabilities.

"Beef Passport is an easy, Web-based solution. A producer orders electronic (RFID) tags, we pre-load those tags in their own Web site. We ship them the tags and a report," says Leann Saunders, vice president, IMI Global. "They will utilize the report when they put in the ear tags to capture any additional information they want to track. Back at the office they can enter the information into their Web site, print off source-of-origin information, and upload the information to verify authenticity by a third-party."

While High Point, NC-based Computerway Food Systems (CFS) is not involved in live operations, it tracks and monitors product once it reaches a production facility. "Whichever method of tracking is employed before the processing plant, CFS can maintain that data through the manufacturing process," say Bill Altenpohl, president, CFS.

CFS systems are integrated, allowing critical traceability data to be shared across all areas of operations. CFS RawTrak and BatchTrak software modules monitor product throughout the manufacturing processes, whether a batch of meat is used in one linear process or divided among several operations that combine ingredients over several days.

RawTrak is the core module for raw materials tracking and initial processing and can be applied to processes such as raw materials receiving, dry goods inventory, lot tracking, quality control, WIP inventory, product movement, and status changes. BatchTrak is the enhancement module to RawTrak that adds the functionality of product formulations and real-time process control.

A. As a recognized leader in microbial testing, 3M Microbiology has responded to the needs of the food and beverage industry with innovative solutions for the laboratory. 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plates, used by 83 of the top 100 food companies, have become the industry standard in food testing and are uniquely designed to offer time savings, increased productivity, reliability and greater overall efficiency.

Q. Define the latest food safety-related innovations to emerge from your company and their chief attributes and benefits for meat and poultry processors.

A. 3M Microbiology has just launched the 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plate Reader. The 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader provides consistent, automated reading and recording of results of 3M Petrifilm Plates in only four seconds. The reader is designed to read 3M Petrifilm Aerobic Count, Coliform Count and Ecoli/Coliform Count Plates tocover the majority of your plating needs.

Q. What type(s) of food safety solutions are meat and poultry processors most inquiring about?

A. Meat and poultry processors today are most inquiring about products that will help them improve their productivity and reduce their costs.

Q. What are the greatest food safety challenges facing meat and poultry processors today, and where do the most opportunities for improvement lay?

A. Providing safe food for consumption by consumers.

Q. What food safety issues have most impacted your business over the past year and what can the industry expect from your company during the next 12-24 months?

A. 3M Microbiology has always focused on developing products that meet the needs of the customer. In the next 12 to 24 months, 3M Microbiology is putting a much more focused effort on meeting with customers, understanding their needs and focusing development efforts on key innovative solutions to meet those needs.

Q. What is your company's greatest food safety success story?

A. Meritech has found great success in providing numerous food processors with a solution to their employee hygiene needs, with the introduction of automated hand washing systems, boot sanitizing, and boot scrubbing equipment.

Meritech has helped such companies as Carolina Turkeys with its highly effective boot scrubbers, Bar-S Foods Co. with its fully automated hand washing systems, and many others with time-saving and efficient systems. This technology has allowed processors to reduce the human error factor in employee hand and boot hygiene, while putting science on their side to ensure the quality products they produce stay that way.

Q. Define the latest food safety related innovations to emerge from your company and their chief attributes and benefits for meat and poultry processors.

A. Meritech's latest innovation answers the demand for sanitizing both hands and boots at the same time with a high throughput, continuous walk thru system. The benefit of the "ProTech Solution" is that an employer may have hundreds or even thousands of employees per shift with a need to sanitize hands and/or boots at one given time. The "ProTech Solution" washes and sanitizes hands and boots of up to 20 employees per minute. The system is a reasonably priced answer to many meat and poultry plants' concerns.

Q. What type(s) of food safety solutions are meat and poultry processors most inquiring about?

A. Meat and poultry processors are continually looking for a fast and effective method of washing and sanitizing employee hands and boots, while at the same time minimizing costs. They also require a method to track their employees' compliance. Meritech addresses all of these concerns. All of the company's automated hand and boot washing systems were designed with these requests in mind. The equipment is fast and effective, and compliance monitors are incorporated into each system.

Q. What are the greatest food safety challenges facing meat and poultry processors today, and where do the most opportunities for improvement lay?

A. There are numerous challenges facing food processors today with BSE, Asian Bird Flu, and food security. The continued concern of employee hygiene exists and has not lessened in many years. Plant managers, quality control, and sanitarians still believe there is a lot of room for improvement. Food processors are dealing with employee turnover, laziness, cultural and language differences. Meritech is in a good position to help processors with these issues by reducing the time for training new and existing employees on proper hand washing. With CleanTech" systems, employee training time is only 10 seconds, which is the cycle time in which CleanTech washes and sanitizes hands.

Q. What food safety issues have most impacted your business over the past year and what can the industry expect from your company during the next 12-24 months?

A. The future looks bright for Meritech with new and innovative products in employee hygiene, and other sanitation processing equipment. In the spring of 2004 Meritech will introduce a new smaller, lower cost CleanTech system to complement its current line of successful automated hand washing systems. Meritech corporate headquarters are based out of Centennial, CO, where the systems are manufactured. You can learn more about Meritech products by accessing its informative Web site, www.meritech.com, or calling (800) 932-7707.

Q. What is your company’s greatest food safety success story?

A.Our greatest food safety success story is the launch of FOODSAFE QMSTM, the first quality management software suite that allows food processors and manufacturers of all sizes to reliably manage and measure their environmental and product testing systems.

Q. Define the latest food safety-related innovations to emerge from your company and their chief attributes and benefits for meat and poultry processors?

A.The technical advancement of FOODSAFE QMS allows meat and poultry processors to integrate data across multiple systems and multiple plants. FoodSafe QMS reduces investigation time from hours to minutes, instantly generates plant-specific reports and COAs, and rapidly compares product sample results to environmental testing results.

Q. What type(s) of food safety solutions are meat and poultry processors most inquiring about?

A.They’re consistently requesting data management solutions to organize their data collection systems.

Q. What are the greatest food safety challenges facing meat and poultry processors today?

A.Validating and verifying that their processes consistently produce wholesome products and that they can generate records to prove it!

Q. What food safety issues have most impacted your business over the past year and what can the industry expect from your company during the next 12-24 months?

A. Meat and poultry firms have had to increase environmental and product testing in order to comply with FSIS Final Rule “Control of Listeria Monocytogenses in Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry Productions” and FSIS Directive 10, 240. 4. FOODSAFE Systems consulting division responded by rapidly issuing policy memos and implementation guidelines to clients, ensuring their continued compliance with agency regulations.

FOODSAFE Systems will continue to focus on the design and implementation of cost-effective process control programs for food manufacturers, processors, and foodservice providers.