Food traceability models: an overview of the state of the art

Abstract

The evolution of the information technologies and their impact in the human life promotes an increasing demand of reliable information when security and safety plays a primary role. Nowadays, food traceability represents one of the main concerns in public authorities and industry. Traceability has become a critical part of the agro-food industry. The aim of the agro-food traceability is to allow the full monitoring of a product in the supply chain and trace the history of a good from the producer to the consumer. It is therefore a preventive instrument of quality and safety management. This paper presents an overview about the state of the art of models and systems developed for food traceability. In the first part, a short overview of the regulatory state of the art is presented. Then, the main research works in the area of food traceability are discussed. Finally some considerations are provided.