Companies across the produce supply chain will have an opportunity to share feedback on the Produce Traceability Initiative via a new online survey, according to a news release.

The survey, conducted by United Fresh Produce Association and Produce Marketing Association, will help the PTI steering committee and administering associations assess PTI adoption to date and identify additional support needs, the release said.

"The associations developed this survey to collect feedback from the industry on PTI implementation," said Dan Vache, vice president of supply chain management for United Fresh. "We can use the data to help the industry meet future PTI milestones and thereby improve traceability across the entire supply chain."

All industry members involved in the produce supply chain – growers to retailers and foodservice operators – were encouraged to participate in the online survey, available at www.producetraceability.org.

The PTI, administered by Canadian Produce Marketing Association, PMA and United Fresh, is designed to help the industry maximize the effectiveness of current traceback procedures while developing a standardized industry approach to enhance the speed and efficiency of future tracebacks, the release said.

The PTI Action Plan, released in 2008, includes a series of seven traceability implementation milestones, with the final milestone to be implemented in 2012.

"Achieving standardized, whole-chain traceability is an important goal for the produce industry, and the PTI provides a roadmap for reaching that goal in the most efficient way possible," Bob Whitaker, PMA's chief science officer, said in the release.


(Written and/or edited by Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)

E-mail Tom Burfield