Accu-Label Inc. - Comment

Most fruit and vegetables are bulk packed and removed from their containers for display at the retail level. Case-level trace-ability is lost when the product is removed from the case. We provide labeling solutions for fresh fruit & vegetables, and our latest labeling system has been successful for over 5 years in our ability to print "trace-ability information" directly onto the label just before it is applied to the fruit or vegetable. Please see attached brochures. This trace-ability information can be a bar-code, lot-code, grower I-D or any information that will allow the packer and retailer to immediately respond to any food safety or quality concerns. The cost to apply this "item-level trace-ability" solution is pennies compared to millions of dollars that could be saved by not banning all produce because we cannot identify where it came from, as in the recent case of the Florida tomatoes and other fresh produce disasters over the past few years. We also have a solution that can help develop an industry standard using the existing GTIN bar-code to include much more than 14 digits of information, along with a simple database that can be adapted by all packers and retailers to dramatically reduce the risk of fresh produce disasters . We would welcome any comments regarding development and implementation of this solution on a global basis Thank you for reading . . . Joe Sleiman President Ag-Tronic Control Systems Inc. Accu-Label Inc.