Back in 1997, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments began making the case for a voluntary dairy food safety program called HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). This program remains an internationally accepted, science-based system for ensuring food safety controls. At the time, the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance was doing the heavy lifting on dairy safety. HACCP was heralded not as a replacement for the PMO, but rather as another (voluntary) tool used to reinforce quality and customer satisfaction.
Fifteen years later, it’s hard to imagine the dairy industry without HACCP. Now is the time for processors to pursue a similar voluntary standardized program as it pertains to product traceability — one we are sure to find just as integral to our success 15 years from now. When the U.S. dairy industry commits to a voluntary standardized traceability program, it will achieve increased customer confidence both by having a solid traceability plan in place and by knowing that their industry colleagues have instituted such plans in their organizations.