The US Department of Homeland Security has granted some US$247,092 to Arizona State University’s Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness in order to develop a study designed to help prevent future food safety alerts between the US and Mexico.
The study, titled ‘Intelligent Food Defense Systems for International Supply Chains: The Case of Mexican Fresh Produce to the US’, aims to find ways to identify a mechanism to prevent unsafe cargo passing through ports of entry (POE) at the US-Mexico border and develop better tracking and accountability systems.
“Such incidents `the salmonella outbreak in Mexican jalapeño and serrano peppers` illustrate the potential vulnerability in the security of imported food products and the need to develop a better tracking system,” said William Nganje, associate professor in the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness, in a news release.
“Currently there is an enormous gap and risk to the imported fresh-produce supply chain for the US,” Mr Nganje explained. “These risks have both health and economic consequences.”
The concept the team is working on is IT based and would allow the collection and storage of information as agricultural products move from production to ports of entry.
Arizona is a key player in the import of produce into the US, with the port of entry at Nogales processing almost 50 per cent of the US fresh produce traded during the winter season (October-May), according to Arizona State University.
Approximately 300,000 trucks pass through the Nogales port from Mexico each year – an average of more than 1,400 trucks per day during the winter season, of which approximately 900 contain produce.
The value of the fruit and vegetable shipments through the Nogales is estimated at more than US$2bn annually, which accounts for more than 4bn pounds of fresh product.
The study is expected to be completed this summer.
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