Is Food Traceability A Marketing Con?

[texelburger]

Do they say they can trace something all the way back to the farm, or do they say that because its assured and only assured produce is used you can trace the standards back through to the assured farms?
There's a difference there, it's something Clive got the wrong end of the stick on in a previous thread.

Sorry but that's rubbish and a generalisation, for some it may be, and some companies might not bother with it, but the statement "food traceability is a con" is not true.

They claim,in their adverts, food is traceable from farm to plate.That suggests to me that food I may have produced can be traced from your plate to our farm.
The whole concept of RT is traceability.

 

[digger64]

God knows.I just think it's so wrong to make these claims if they can't.

just wonder if it could be potentially costly public liability wise if they could ?

 

[yellowbelly]

Sorry but that's rubbish and a generalisation, for some it may be, and some companies might not bother with it, but the statement "food traceability is a con" is not true.

Not a generalisation at all. It's a specific case.

Frank asked them where it came from.
They're initial response was, "all the meat either comes from Wales (company based in Kent) or New Zealand, depending on the season and was pasture fed and traceable back to farm"

Today they say, " The batch can be traced to a days kill "

The initial response was wrong. Some would say, "an untruth". Some would say, "A lie". Some would say, "a con".

 

[texelburger]

just wonder if it could be potentially costly public liability wise if they could ?

It potentially could but that is a different argument. My gripe is their whole company is based on traceability and if they can't then then it's flawed.

 

[kiwi pom]

Not a generalisation at all. It's a specific case.

Frank asked them where it came from.
They're initial response was, "all the meat either comes from Wales (company based in Kent) or New Zealand, depending on the season and was pasture fed and traceable back to farm"

Today they say, " The batch can be traced to a days kill "

The initial response was wrong. Some would say, "an untruth". Some would say, "A lie". Some would say, "a con".

Yes that particular case but as I said the statement, food traceability is a con is not true.

They claim,in their adverts, food is traceable from farm to plate.That suggests to me that food I may have produced can be traced from your plate to our farm.
The whole concept of RT is traceability.

I think this is the advert Clive got upset about. That's not what it says.
We're talking about two different things here too. Traceability and assurance are not the same.

 

[texelburger]

Yes that particular case but as I said the statement, food traceability is a con is not true.

I think this is the advert Clive got upset about. That's not what it says.
We're talking about two different things here too. Traceability and assurance are not the same.

Traceability and Assurance work together under the RT banner.
They assure the public that food has been produced under the conditions set out by RT and is traceable from farm to plate.
Their circular which arrived in the post yesterday states that.Their whole concept is Traceability which is very much part of the Assurance.

 

[DaveGrohl]

Where the hell are you going to find a "decent journalist"? If there were any the lid would have been blown off this scam and many others by now.

Soz, it was a bit of an injoke with some on here. Abi Kay has proven herself to be a quality journalist over a period of time, not just the latest revelation that she’s blown the lid off. She’s on here too. We need more top quality journalists, we’re over run with pathetic lazy journalists who’ll repeat any old cr@p they’re fed.

 

[DaveGrohl]

I think we’re all kinda missing the point about what "traceability" means to the operators within the food chain. To them, it means that they can trace it all back to a batch that has has come from a selection of farms/country. They can then isolate/recall all that batch and destroy it, and therefore absolve themselves of liability because they’ve been able to demonstrate that they have a smidgeon of "traceability".

It defo doesn’t mean that they can actually trace anything back to the farm of origin. That’s clearly impossible once you put a link in the chain. They all have teams of lawyers who have investigated what exactly they can get away with whilst taking the p!ss. They get away with it until they can’t. The whole business world is built on that.

 

[kiwi pom]

Traceability and Assurance work together under the RT banner.
They assure the public that food has been produced under the conditions set out by RT and is traceable from farm to plate.
Their circular which arrived in the post yesterday states that.Their whole concept is Traceability which is very much part of the Assurance.

Yes they can (they claim) trace the standards all through the chain. Where do they say they can trace an individual item all the way back to a farm? I think there's a difference here.
That can be different to tracing something all the way back. If you can prove all the produce you use is to a standard and you don't use anything outside of that then you can show the product is to a set standard. Would you agree with that?

I don't think the OP mentioned RT with their shepherds pie?

I think we’re all kinda missing the point about what "traceability" means to the operators within the food chain. To them, it means that they can trace it all back to a batch that has has come from a selection of farms/country. They can then isolate/recall all that batch and destroy it, and therefore absolve themselves of liability because they’ve been able to demonstrate that they have a smidgeon of "traceability".

It defo doesn’t mean that they can actually trace anything back to the farm of origin. That’s clearly impossible once you put a link in the chain. They all have teams of lawyers who have investigated what exactly they can get away with whilst taking the p!ss. They get away with it until they can’t. The whole business world is built on that.

I agree with the first part but it's not impossible to trace a product back to a farm or even a paddock for SOME things.

 

[DaveGrohl]

Yes they can (they claim) trace the standards all through the chain. Where do they say they can trace an individual item all the way back to a farm? I think there's a difference here.
That can be different to tracing something all the way back. If you can prove all the produce you use is to a standard and you don't use anything outside of that then you can show the product is to a set standard. Would you agree with that?

I don't think the OP mentioned RT with their shepherds pie?


I agree with the first part but it's not impossible to trace a product back to a farm or even a paddock for SOME things.

Yeah, hence my link in the chain comment. More links = loss of traceability. Thought it was obv, soz.

 

[kiwi pom]

Yeah, hence my link in the chain comment. More links = loss of traceability. Thought it was obv, soz.

Yes more links makes it harder but it's still possible. Every product is different though. I just push back on the broader statement; food traceability is a con.
Lesson learned, don't buy ready made meals

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

Yes more links makes it harder but it's still possible. Every product is different though. I just push back on the broader statement; food traceability is a con.
Lesson learned, don't buy ready made meals

There is a large difference between traceability and assurance as you rightly say. The companies are happy to use RT Assurance as that in their audits covers them. The abattoir, initial processor can claim that everything they buy is assured (even from NZ) so is therefore "traceable" to a standard.
To be fair to them they do use a huge amount of mostly British meat every day and people will still buy the Ready Meals.

We should encourage them and support them.
My original complaint was that there was sub standard meat going into a product that could potentially put people off eating lamb.

I would also guess that loads of out of spec meat goes into the mince, which all helps to keep the price the farmer receives at a higher level.
My constructive suggestion to them was that where they are making meals that are relatively "taste or flavour sensitive" they insist that the mince does not have any ram meat in it. Curries etc are not an issue.

 

[Lowland1]

M&S Shepherd's Pie | Ocado

Buy M&S from Ocado. Find your favourite groceries, household essentials, and value delivered at Ocado.

www.ocado.com

Read what’s in a ready meal. How can you taste any meat. Here’s another.

Shepherd's Pie

Delicious minced mutton in gravy, topped with a layer of mashed potato. Served with carrots and peas.

wiltshirefarmfoods.com

 

[ollie989898]

M&S Shepherd's Pie | Ocado

Buy M&S from Ocado. Find your favourite groceries, household essentials, and value delivered at Ocado.

www.ocado.com

Read what’s in a ready meal. How can you taste any meat. Here’s another.

Shepherd's Pie

Delicious minced mutton in gravy, topped with a layer of mashed potato. Served with carrots and peas.

wiltshirefarmfoods.com

There will be very little meat in that.

 

[Lowland1]

There will be very little meat

The M&S one 18% NZ lamb. The other 15% Mutton. About 50% potatoes in both. Read the ingredients for the other 30% . You must have good taste buds to pick anything out.

 

[ollie989898]

The M&S one 18% NZ lamb. The other 15% Mutton. About 50% potatoes in both. Read the ingredients for the other 30% . You must have good taste buds to pick anything out.

It's very low in meat content because meat of any kind is relatively expensive. Water, of course, is cheap and most foods are sold on a weight basis.

Companies such as the aforementioned I believe supply many NHS or MOD contracts. I presume this is due to cost and the practicalities of running an actual kitchen crew, the costs and problems of this being off the scale these days. I am still surprised by the sheer variety of food on offer in hospitals today if I am honest, not that I have ever eaten any of it.

 

[unlacedgecko]

It's very low in meat content because meat of any kind is relatively expensive. Water, of course, is cheap and most foods are sold on a weight basis.

Companies such as the aforementioned I believe supply many NHS or MOD contracts. I presume this is due to cost and the practicalities of running an actual kitchen crew, the costs and problems of this being off the scale these days. I am still surprised by the sheer variety of food on offer in hospitals today if I am honest, not that I have ever eaten any of it.

I initially found military food excellent. It was amazing what army chefs could do with the £1.43/man they were provided each day.

Then Sodexo were awarded the catering contract, and the quality dropped like a stone.

 

[ollie989898]

I initially found military food excellent. It was amazing what army chefs could do with the £1.43/man they were provided each day.

Then Sodexo were awarded the catering contract, and the quality dropped like a stone.

Of course, government is all about awarding lucrative contracts to your mates. All about cash