Kiwi company cracks food tracking challenge

A New Zealand company, Rfider, is one of the winners of the US Food and Drug Administration's New Era of Smarter Food Safety Low or No Cost Food Traceability Challenge. This challenge sought to find technologies that offer unique and useful end-to-end traceability for the food safety system, as the FDA is encouraging organisations to adopt traceability programs.

Rfider, the only winner from outside of North America, is a software company that develops technology to simplify the collecting and moving of important data and information about a food’s supply chain. The software tracks each link that a food item interacts with on the supply chain in a bid to reduce and respond to foodborne contamination that might result in people becoming sick.

Rfider Chief Executive John Pennington said his company’s product could be easily used by anyone in the supply chain network. “Frontline staff at every point in a food’s supply chain, from growers through to logistics providers and distributors, can now scan products to access mobile first tools which simply capture traceability and provenance information. Consumers can also scan the same codes to get real-time updates on an item’s safety, allowing them to make more informed purchase and usage decisions.”

While competitors from around the world entered the traceability challenge, the other winners were singularly located in the Canada or USA. Rfider and the other winners will be offered the opportunity to promote their solutions through the FDA.

More information about Rfider’s traceability program can be found by clicking here. Read about the FDA’s challenge at this link, including information about the other winners.

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