Software for food manufacturers, packers and distributors can record maintenance, track and trace, and recall capabilities
Waukesha, WI — January 5, 2005 — Supply chain technology solutions provider RedPrairie Corp. today said that its solutions provide food and beverage manufacturers with tools to support compliance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations related to the Bioterrorism Act of 2002.
Final mandates issued by the FDA on December 6, 2004, require food and beverage manufacturers to be able to track food products throughout the entire food and animal supply chain by December 2006. Companies must also maintain supply chain records for up to two years to protect consumers against bioterrorism in the food chain.
According to FDA Commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford in a press release issued by the FDA, "These records will be crucial for FDA to deal effectively with food-related emergencies, such as deliberate contamination of food by terrorists. The ability to trace back will enable us to get to the source of contamination. The records also enable FDA to trace forward to remove adulterated food that poses a significant health threat in the food supply."
RedPrairie said its warehouse management system contains data structures necessary to support the FDA's detailed record requirements, including specific vendor and supplier contact information and e-mail addresses, type of food, brand name and specific variety, date released, quantity and type of packaging, and contact information for the immediate transporter and subsequent recipients. RedPrairie customers are also able to define how long they want to store this transaction history.
Through RedPrairie's Commander / QA Recall solution, food and beverage companies are able to track and trace products from supplier to end customer. Companies can query food records globally via the Web, and track products by lot number, code and expiration date.
All food and beverage companies must be FDA compliant within 12 months, except for small or very small businesses, which must comply within 24 months. Companies must be able to supply records within 24 hours of FDA request.
Larry Hilgert, senior manager, Logistics Warehouse Systems, PepsiCo Beverages & Foods, says, "Compliance with FDA bioterrorism mandates are important business issues in the food and beverage industry. RedPrairie's warehouse management solution helps address FDA compliance by providing tools to assist with inventory control and visibility across a large and complex distribution network."
