Food traceability is the ability to track every aspect of the manufacturing and distribution of a product. In the food and beverage industry, traceability is crucial to ensure safety from “Grass to Glass” or “Farm to Fork.” In India, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) mandates end-to-end traceability for all food products, making it essential for crisis management, recalls, and regulatory compliance.
There are two main types of traceability: forward and backward. Forward traceability tracks the movement of dairy products after manufacturing, covering warehousing, transportation, and distribution to retailers. Backward traceability traces the origin of milk, including all steps in processing, raw materials used, packaging, and process aids. Farm-level traceability, a subset of backward traceability, involves tracking milk from the farm to its first point of collection. This is crucial when contaminants such as aflatoxins, melamine, or antibiotic residues are detected. If a dairy collects milk from thousands of farmers and detects contamination, it must identify the precise farm responsible.
The typical milk supply chain in India follows this path:
However, most dairy organisations in India struggle to trace milk back to the farm level due to challenges at each stage of the supply chain.
At the factory level, continuous production cycles for essential dairy products like pouch milk and curd complicate traceability. Shared equipment across multiple product lines can cause tracking errors, significantly if logs are not updated. Retention samples of incoming milk tankers from BMCs/MCCs are often improperly maintained. Dairies should implement robust logging and automated tracking systems to address these issues, maintain retention samples, and adopt digital traceability solutions such as QR codes, blockchain, or RFID tagging.
At the BMC/MCC level, identifying the source of contamination is difficult if BMCs do not retain VLC-level samples. Most BMCs check only basic parameters like fat, solids-not-fat (SNF), and basic adulterants, making it difficult to trace chemical contaminants. The lack of infrastructure, refrigeration, and trained personnel further complicates traceability. To improve this, BMCs should mandate sample retention, invest in cost-effective rapid testing kits, and train personnel on proper sample storage and handling.
At the VLC level, maintaining retention samples is challenging as VLCs typically collect milk from 50-100 farmers. Farmers supplying small quantities (e.g., 1 liter) make representative sample retention impractical. VLCs operate in small facilities with minimal infrastructure, limiting storage capabilities. Instead of retaining individual samples, VLC-level traceability should be prioritised, with farm-level testing conducted only when contamination is detected. Digital milk collection systems and mobile testing units can help enhance traceability.
With increasing regulatory focus and consumer awareness, traceability in Indian dairy is improving. Some startups are implementing animal-level traceability, setting a precedent for larger dairy organizations. To achieve robust traceability, India must invest in digital tracking solutions, incentivise farmer participation, and strengthen infrastructure at VLCs and BMCs. While farm-level traceability remains challenging, incremental improvements can significantly enhance dairy safety and reliability, moving India closer to global standards.
