RFID: Cool as a Cucumber, Field to Fork

When shelf life is determined in conjunction with EPC RFID, it creates a memory and mode of communication to indicate the condition of perishable goods.

By Terry Myers

Infratab uses RFID with sensors (Freshtime™ tags) to track-and-trace perishable goods such as fruit and flowers, while logging how the goods are handled and stored to create a point system to evaluate how fresh the goods really are.

One beneficiary of EPCglobal's standards initiatives and early implementations is the cold chain. This takes advantage of inexpensive barcode-compatible EPC tags, EPC tag readers (which can often be used interchangeably regardless of manufacturer), and the EPCglobal real-time data delivery network. It will also be a first adopter of EPC RFID sensor tags.

The transition to EPC RFID and the EPCglobal network is needed because of changes in the cold chain. Not so many years ago, ingredients and perishables were made and sold locally. The average number of changes of custody in the cold chain has increased from six in the 1990s to over 20 in 2007. This increase in number of hands touching the product is a result of year-round demand that requires purchase of product from producers in South America, China, India, and Africa. It is also the result of consumer demand for lower prices of perishables. On top of this are special-incentives-programs by the governments of the exporting countries (for example, China's commitment to be the leading rose exporter to the U.S.), and the result is a cold chain transitioning from handshakes and trust to a system of "not-so-known."

A major pain point for perishables is temperature abuse. Today temperature abuse is most often discovered at arrival and after spot inspections. Temperature logs (one or two used per shipment) provide after-the-fact documentation of what happened. The result is a system very good at fulfilling regulatory compliance, yet very high in shrinkage. Because of the recent number of perishable recalls, it is also a system confronting both safety and brand protection issues.

The cold chain—whether it handles perishables such as cold and frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, flowers, or industrial adhesives—reaps many benefits from using RFID by answering: "What is it?", "Where is it?", and "When did it get there?" EPC tags and the EPCglobal network provide a common identification system, location nomenclature, business steps, and way of communicating data at each point in the cold chain in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, benefiting with consistent, real-time data available to partners.

Few industries have as many regulatory issues as the food and drug industries in which processing, labeling, and distribution of products are dictated by third parties. The food industry in 2007 will spend over $25 billion dollars to support various compliance programs such as the U.S. Bioterrorism Act, the Can-Trace Initiative in Canada, the European Global Food Law, and the Japanese Agricultural Standards in Japan.

Adding to the existing U.S. regulations are new regulations currently in the U.S. Congress resulting from the food and ingredient recalls in 2007. These new regulations call for the screening of imported foods and perishable ingredients that require companies to certify that foreign suppliers meet U.S. standards. Although the Food and Drug Administration would inspect more imports than it does now, most of the responsibility for ensuring safety will fall on the industry.

This is where the trace-back features of the EPCglobal network come into play. The EPCglobal network provides partners with the ability to associate EPC numbers with batch lots and production dates, so as to find products in danger regardless of whether the product is in Asia, in transit, in the U.S., etc. This trace-back need is so timely that two U.S. marketing associations, the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and the United Fresh Produce Association (UFPA), along with the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA), are collaboratively focusing on the urgent need to use existing standards for the most effective trace-back and trace-forward practices between supply chain partners—from field to fork.

Yet a major breakthrough and paradigm shift in monitoring perishables in the cold chain comes with the use of RFID sensor tags. RFID sensor tags enable the cold chain to become quality-driven. With EPC RFID sensor tags, those in the cold chain not only can answer the "What?", "Where?", and "When?", but also "How is it?" and "How well has the quality of the tagged perishable been maintained?". One immediate benefit is a way of assessing the performance of each segment of the now expanded cold chain. Longer term benefits include higher quality, longer shelf life, reduced shrinkage, and brand protection.

Today EPC RFID sensor tags are taking two different design paths. The first are RFID temperature loggers. Here, the input/output of the logger is RFID instead of RS232, thus being able to associate log data to EPC numbers. Functionality is the same as today's loggers.

Another approach taken by the company Infratab (www.infratab.com) is RFID shelf life tags. These tags called "Freshtime™ tags" actively monitor the shelf life of perishables in contrast to a logger that monitors a storage or transport environment. The shelf life view of the world is based upon the premise that each perishable (whether it is chilled and minimally processed foods, beer, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, blood, flowers, film, chemicals, adhesives, and many other products) has a unique shelf life that depends on the packaged product's initial microbial load (if a food, the gas composition; if CAP/MAP, time-temperature history, moisture loss, etc.). Although both quality and safety are affected by these physical, chemical, or biological factors (often inter-related), temperature is the predominant factor in determining how long acceptable quality lasts for a given distribution including storage at home and when it might disappoint its user or consumer. Combining the tags with Infratab's Freshtime™ software yields the best benefits, including: supply chain alerts before perishables become "unsaleable"; on-the-spot options for what to do after temperature abuse occurs, documentation for insurance claims; traceability back to farm or factory.

Shelf life is the integration of time and temperature. Shelf life is about not disappointing the consumer. It is about quality and knowing how many days of good life are left based upon brand objectives for taste, look, and smell. It is the "best-when used" date with a temperature component. Used in conjunction with EPC RFID, it creates a memory and a mode of communication to indicate the condition of the perishable goods, while providing regulatory compliance.

As in any new approach to handling challenges, one can expect both EPC RFID tags (data loggers) and EPC RFID tags (shelf life monitors). The key is that there is a system, EPCglobal, that is here now and that offers many advantages to the worldwide cold chain. It is exciting for the quality-driven brand owner and retailer, and for the consumer as well.

Terry Myers is the CEO of Infratab. She is responsible for overall company operations with a special focus on company marketing and product strategy. Contact Infratab at info@infratab.com.