2D barcodes can identify toxic foods

Below is an outline of a scenario involving a punnet of fresh raspberries labeled with a 2D barcode and sold in a specific Danish supermarket. The consumer has subsequently fallen ill, and an intense tracking process now begins to prevent further cases of illness and remove the products in question from the shelves.

‍

1. Collection

Stomach issues among several consumers are reported, and alarm bells ring at the Statens Serum Institut. Have the affected Danes been traveling and possibly brought an illness home? Or have they perhaps all eaten something that made them sick? In this case, work is done quickly with questionnaires, and in some cases, the Statens Serum Institut also investigates what the sick individuals have purchased.

‍

2. Analysis

Using statistics, researchers isolate the items that the sick individuals have purchased more frequently than healthy consumers, and this is where GS1 plays a crucial role. By combining the researchers' work with the barcode system, the process can be automated more quickly by aggregating data in the system. This makes it far more efficient to identify the contaminated food. The detective work does not end here.

Since raspberries are not just a product found in the produce section or the freezer, but can also appear in processed goods, the GS1 system can be useful. Especially in more difficult cases where it turns out not to be just one product, but several products that contain the ingredient causing the illness.

‍

3. Limitation

By comparing the receipts of the sick individuals with the information on the barcodes regarding shelf life, it is possible to narrow down the timeframe during which the affected individuals consumed the contaminated product. If you trace the culprit to contaminated raspberries via receipts and barcodes, you want to avoid having to recall all raspberries. Here, GS1 barcodes help limit the recall by pinpointing where the contaminated raspberries ended up.

Soon, it will even be possible to be more specific before contacting the people who may have purchased the bad berries. It is just as much about prevention as it is about limitation.

‍

4. The consumer

The expectation is that the system and research will be able to work even better together in the near future. Then, the limitation will be able to be truly specific - the product's batch number will alert consumers who have purchased those specific contaminated raspberries. Instead of withdrawing an entire assortment of raspberries and their derivatives, it will be possible to warn exactly those who have bought the bad berries, thereby effectively containing the problem. This allows for limiting the scope of recalls, resolving outbreaks faster, and even minimizing food waste.

‍

5. Research

Statens Serum Institut has created the website mineindkob.dk, where you can share your receipts with researchers to help study the link between our health and what we buy.
For example, this can lead to greater knowledge about which additives increase the risk of disease and which are harmless. It will likely also lead to a better understanding of the connection between diet and some of the diseases that we currently do not know the cause of or why they worsen.

‍

6. Health

The collective knowledge is being streamlined. This means better health for everyone, but also savings for both manufacturers and retail chains. All in all, it creates greater security for both the seller and the buyer.

Read more about how you can work efficiently and securely with the new barcodes on our page about 2D barcodes