Electronic Tracking of Food

From pet food to human food, there have been recent headlines about contamination and risks to health. It is becoming more and more important to know where the food originates. There is a development for some food producers to place tracking systems on their products. Consumers can track the products online:

“…”It allows a farmer to uniquely identify their product— whether it’s a melon or a box of corn— with a unique number,” said Elliot Grant, the chief marketing officer for Yottamark, the company that manufacturers the Harvestmark system. “Then the consumer can visit the Web site, type in the 24-digit produce number, and find out all of the harvest information.”"

link: Do You Know Where Your Veggies Come From?

Inadvertently, as the system develops, it may provide a data base of food producers who are confident enough in their products to allow tracking. For those food producers who avoid the data base, it begs the question of ‘why?’.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]food, security, tracking, internet, data base[/tags]