Exploring Issues in the Management of Food Traceability Codes

 Today, I happened to come across news about food safety, which mentioned the issue of food traceability codes. Each food item is assigned a traceability code, through which one can query the specific origin and producer of the vegetables.

 Germany already has such a strict management system in place. However, in practice, many problems arise. The most critical one is how to ensure that retailers at the end of the supply chain do not forge traceability codes.

 Related news reports indicate that in a supermarket in Tongzhou, Beijing, some vegetables were found with traceability codes attached, and these items were sold at double the price. Surprisingly, different types of vegetables shared the same code, and throughout the entire supermarket, there were only three distinct codes. How can effective management be achieved under such circumstances?

 Therefore, traceability alone is insufficient.

    To truly manage agricultural product traceability codes effectively, considering China's actual situation, not only should traceability be implemented, but also the destination tracking. That is, the terminal retailers receiving the vegetables must scan the products and upload the data, indicating exactly which supermarket received the product. This ensures safety; if forgery is detected, it can only occur at the terminal stage.

 Establishing such a system is not technically difficult. Agricultural product enterprises can develop a system and an app. Anyone can download this app, scan the product's QR code, and obtain not only the food's origin but also its precise destination. If the destination name matches the current purchase location, it indicates the product is genuine; otherwise, there is a problem with its origin.

 Building this system is not difficult, but how to solve data entry? Currently, QR code scanning via apps is quite mature. By creating a merchant-specific app and binding it to the terminal merchant's name, the system can automatically associate the merchant during upload. Verifying and uploading the received goods would not be burdensome and could be completed when the goods are stored.

 This approach should work for all officially channelled products. I hope that merchants will establish this system soon, which would be a blessing for all consumers.