Norwegians Know where their Beef has been – pilot program using IBM RFID services for tracking

Durable RFID tags are placed on the totes that capture the the journey of the meat from the farm all the way to the processing plant. At each step, RFID readers are capturing the information. The chips are pretty durable and can withstand washing and some pretty adverse conditions without losing the data. As a secondary plus, the process can stand to also alert grocery stores of their current inventory levels to hopefully keep the supplies from running out without some type of prior notification. BD

The average Norwegian eats 62 kilograms, or 137 pounds, of meat per year—with little idea where it came from, other than "the store." But by 2010, that average Norwegian should have a much better idea of where his or her meal originated.

Given major recalls in recent years, getting smarter about food—knowing where our food comes from and who has handled it—is becoming more of a priority for governments and consumers around the world. In Norway, the government has set a 2010 deadline for food traceability standards and policy as part of its e-Traceability (eSporing) program, which aims to increase the safety of Norwegians' food supply by bringing greater visibility to that supply chain

Such complexity led Matiq, Nortura's IT subsidiary, to pilot a project with the help of IBM RFID Services. Using an IBM InfoSphere Traceability Server solution, the project tracks meat from the farm to the butchering facility with the use of RFID tags attached to the plastic totes that also carry the meat onto its next stage in the supply chain.