When a product is commercialised and enters the supply chain, provenance verification technology provides the vital ability to prove a product’s origin claims, through the scientific analysis of the product itself. This is especially important for products carrying value-based claims or certifications, such as ‘organic’ or ‘sustainably farmed’, which are delivered at the site of production. Vegetables Australia reports on the benefits of connecting products to their original source.

The uptake of new technologies to provide traceability within the fruit and vegetable industry has increased in recent years. This is partially in response to the recent food tampering and contamination crises, but also through an industry-wide recognition that good traceability systems offer many benefits to producers.

Digital traceability systems offer specific information about the movement of produce within supply chains, data about consumer purchasing habits, increased production and logistical efficiencies, opportunities for longer shelf life and the reduction of product waste. These systems rely on chain of custody data to record the movement of stock within supply chains and the record of this data begins at the place where produce is allocated a scannable label or code, which typically occurs at the packhouse.

What remains is a traceability gap between the source of production (provenance) and packhouse, where produce is still unmarked or unlabelled. This is where scientific traceability comes in.

Source Certain analyses the physical product itself independent of labelling claims and chain of custody data.

Tracing technology

There are two key reasons why it is critical to have the ability to connect a product to its true provenance, or source of production. These are protecting premium products and protecting producers.

Source Certain uses its forensic provenance verification technology, TSW Trace®, which identifies the composition (chemical, molecular, elemental and isotopic) of food and non-food products that enables the verification of provenance.

The technology is very sensitive, so provenance can be determined to a high level of specificity (e.g. individual ponds, or sheds on an egg farm). It tests the physical product itself, independent of associated data labels and packaging. This capability supports existing traceability systems building confidence in the supply chains that carry products and their associated promises to consumers. In addition to initial sampling of produce, Source Certain carries out covert sampling of product within the market.

The communication of this in-market surveillance to supply chain partners acts as deterrent to bad behaviour, such as product substitution and false labelling, within the supply chain.

Source Certain Chief Scientist, Dr John Watling pioneered TSW Trace®, with its first application in linking stolen or smuggled gold back to its mine of origin.

Over 40 years, their scientists have been developing and using this technology to assess forensic evidence in criminal investigations globally, as it is also an accepted forensic method by international courts of law.

This provenance verification technology is adopted by producers as a scientific layer of security to verify product provenance, authenticity and chain of custody data.

Source Certain designs provenance verification programs using TSW Trace® for industry bodies or individual producers of all sizes.

Its technology can be integrated with complementing traceability systems, whether they are digital or paper based, to provide more visibility over a product’s journey from the producer to the consumer.

When working with fruit and vegetable producers, one objective is to provide a solution to bridging the traceability gap between farm and packhouse. By doing this, it allows for visibility to a product’s provenance and increased transparency within a critical stage in the supply chain.

Source Certain uses advanced technology, like this Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS), to deliver provenance services.

Find out more

Please call 1300 TRACED (1300 872 233) or email info@sourcecertain.com. Further details can be found on the Source Certain website.

Key points: The science behind provenance technology

• Source Certain’s technology and analysis is independent to labelling claims, certifications and chain of custody data.
• It acts as a scientific check on digital or paper-based data by testing the physical properties of the product itself to verify the integrity of data captured by traceability systems.
• Growing demand from downstream suppliers to verify the integrity/authenticity of premium produce; boutique or licenced varieties, sustainability or organic production claims and other provenance-based claims.
• The science offers enhanced traceability to combat food safety issues (such as contamination outbreaks) by linking produce at the packhouse stage to the farm of origin. There are biosecurity benefits, with a tighter quarantine and continuation of operations that comes with the ability to trace a contaminated vegetable back to a farm or paddock.

This article first appeared in Vegetables Australia – Summer 2020/21. To read the full publication, please click here.