Traceability 4.0

Worldwide food safety incidents and commercial frauds have led to a strong consumers’ demand for food safety and quality and generated a growing request for agricultural products with a solid identification with particular geographical regions. Controller and producers are directly involved and have to deal with this demand, paying attention to the application of tools able to ensure transparency and product authentication. In particular, product traceability is one main goal of the food control system and a guarantee for consumers. Scientific research is addressed towards the development of reliable techniques for this purpose. Traceability through molecular analysis is a key tool that can be used for species identification in both raw materials and processed products. Moreover, the use of ICT in the traceability management, as well as in the hygienic management, could overcome the weakness of the current system based mainly on the use of paper information in food production.