Improving food safety in the supply chain: Integrating traceability in production and distribution planning

After a number of food safety crises, the design and implementation of traceability systems became an important focus of the food industry. As a result, food product traceability ranks high on senior management agendas for supply chain activities. In the literature, numerous studies deal with traceability from the viewpoint of information system development and technology development such as radio frequency identification (RFID) and DNA-based techniques. However, traceability and its implications for food safety are thus far not incorporated in the standard operations management literature on production and distribution planning. Here, we develop a methodology for production and distribution planning in food supply chains which minimizes production and logistics costs and at the same time reduces food safety concerns, limits the size of potential recalls, and satisfies product quality requirements throughout the supply chain. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology using a small case study.