Category Research project
  • Mikrobiologie

Food & feed classification for tracing purposes

Project status
In the closing process
Project start
Jun 2021
Project end
Sept 2023
Acronym
FoodClass
Department
Biologische Sicherheit
Website
https://foodrisklabs.bfr.bund.de/

Description and Objective

Over the past years, the tracing software FoodChain-Lab was applied more often in outbreak investigations and a greater variety of additional tracing tools for different purposes became available. Hence, a standardisation of the analysed information is needed to enable comparisons and statistics on several investigations. Results could be used to identify food and feed items, contaminations and actors in the food chain with higher risks of incidents. Precondition is an appropriate and user-friendly classification system for the main data elements for tracing. Tracing activities follow food or feed items along the supply chain from primary production via processing to consumers. Food and feed classification systems (FoodEx2 system) are only designed for particular steps in the supply chain and are therefore not always directly applicable to the whole chain. With the help of facets some connections between the steps of the supply chain can be made but the system has limitations for complex food items with many ingredients. To provide recommendations on how to include tracing information into FoodEx2, we perform a comprehensive literature and web search on classification systems for tracing purposes used by competent authorities, international organisations, and companies. A corresponding coding manual will be derived from those recommendations. In parallel, a feasibility study should test, if AI solutions (RASNEX) can be used to extract information from the RASFF notifications, follow-ups and attachments. Focus will be the extraction of address information in the correct data format and classification, but could be extended to e.g. product information. All project results will be discussed with Member States and implemented in existing tracing tools.
Type of project

Third-party funded project

Areas of research

Forschung zur Sicherheit nationaler und internationaler Warenketten / Internationale Zusammenarbeit

Organisational units and partners

Lead unit: Epidemiologie, Zoonosen und Antibiotikaresistenz (43)
Contact persons: Dr. Marion Gottschald, Marc Lorenzen, Dr. Katja Alt, PDshort foroutside lecturer Dr. Bernd-Alois Tenhagen
Involved BfR partners: Biologische Sicherheit, Sicherheit in der Nahrungskette
External partner: Europäische Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit

Funding body and grant number

Europäische Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit
GP/EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority/AMU/2020/02-SA07

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