[7] summarized that there were three
motives for food suppliers to establish product tracing systems: to improve the supply
(production) management, to differentiate and market foods with subtle or undetectable
quality attributes, and to facilitate trace-back for food safety and/or
quality. The aim of a traceability system is to collect the product related information
along the supply chain. This information is essential when facing food safety crisis,
and provides efficient management for the corresponding product recall action.
Although a recall action could be absolutely critical for a company, both in terms
of incurred costs and of media impact, at present most companies do not possess reliable
methods to precisely estimate the amount of product that would be discarded
in the case of a recall. Dabbene and Gay