Food products are manufactured in large volumes these days. The mass production of foodstuffs means that millions of products are produced and transported in bulk consignments. This makes the individual checking and handling of each product impossible. Yet there are instances where a defective product is manufactured or the food starts to become a hazard to the consumer's health. In such cases, the manufacturer needs to be able to track the product, and they can use food traceability software systems to do this.
There are different reasons why food needs to be tracked down or monitored. The first is that the food eventually passes its expiry date and is no longer legally allowed to be sold. This is not always a matter of health; some food is not decomposed or even unfit for human consumption. However, the mere fact that its legislated expiry date has passed means that it cannot be sold to the public. This sounds like a purely bureaucratic consideration but the legislation exists and stores cannot bypass it.
But the other reason is more serious. One would expect this to be limited to the perishable products like fresh fruit and vegetables and dairy, but even tinned foods and long-storage cereals suffer from the issue of decomposition. Once this has set in, the product is genuinely useless and cannot be consumed, let alone sold.
In order to track down all of these different products, manufacturers can use software systems to record and track a batch or consignment. They can then identify each batch and try to pinpoint its location so as to remove the products from the shelf.
On their own side, the public can also take measures to protect themselves from expired or unhealthy products. The tracing system is not infallible, and products might not be accurately tagged. The expiry date on a product might not be correct, and this might not even be by accident. The date may not have been accurate to start with, or it might have been updated later to prolong the shelf presence of the item.
Tinned food is easy to check because the packaging easily betrays the expired nature of its contents. A swollen tin, for example, means that air has entered the tin or that the contents are decomposing. In either case, the tin should not be purchased. A dented, rusted or punctured tin should not be bought.
Other long-term storage items are also susceptible to expiry and decomposition. This issue arises where the product is designed for this purpose, such as where it is advertised as a "long-life" product. These products sometimes are stored for a very long time, even one or two years. This does not make them immune to expiry and where they have expired and the retailer is still insisting on selling them to the public, the manufacturer or the authorities can be contacted.
The flavor or quality of the product is not the only consideration when it comes to expired food products. Public health is important and expired foodstuffs can cause disease and death. These products should be detected and removed from the market as a matter of course.
There are different reasons why food needs to be tracked down or monitored. The first is that the food eventually passes its expiry date and is no longer legally allowed to be sold. This is not always a matter of health; some food is not decomposed or even unfit for human consumption. However, the mere fact that its legislated expiry date has passed means that it cannot be sold to the public. This sounds like a purely bureaucratic consideration but the legislation exists and stores cannot bypass it.
But the other reason is more serious. One would expect this to be limited to the perishable products like fresh fruit and vegetables and dairy, but even tinned foods and long-storage cereals suffer from the issue of decomposition. Once this has set in, the product is genuinely useless and cannot be consumed, let alone sold.
In order to track down all of these different products, manufacturers can use software systems to record and track a batch or consignment. They can then identify each batch and try to pinpoint its location so as to remove the products from the shelf.
On their own side, the public can also take measures to protect themselves from expired or unhealthy products. The tracing system is not infallible, and products might not be accurately tagged. The expiry date on a product might not be correct, and this might not even be by accident. The date may not have been accurate to start with, or it might have been updated later to prolong the shelf presence of the item.
Tinned food is easy to check because the packaging easily betrays the expired nature of its contents. A swollen tin, for example, means that air has entered the tin or that the contents are decomposing. In either case, the tin should not be purchased. A dented, rusted or punctured tin should not be bought.
Other long-term storage items are also susceptible to expiry and decomposition. This issue arises where the product is designed for this purpose, such as where it is advertised as a "long-life" product. These products sometimes are stored for a very long time, even one or two years. This does not make them immune to expiry and where they have expired and the retailer is still insisting on selling them to the public, the manufacturer or the authorities can be contacted.
The flavor or quality of the product is not the only consideration when it comes to expired food products. Public health is important and expired foodstuffs can cause disease and death. These products should be detected and removed from the market as a matter of course.
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