8CIOReview | | NOVEMBER 2022IN MY OPINIONTHE TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE VALUE ADDED SALAD INDUSTRYIt seems like yesterday,whether rain or shine,field and plant personnel were hovering over clipboards studiously recording locations, quantities, varieties, equipment settings, temperatures, times and more. As the advertising slogan goes, "We've come a long way!"Today the digital revolution has transformed not only how the fresh salad business is managed ­ withlight-year increases in efficiency and speed ­ but modern technology has also led to significant benefits in risk management, supply chain wide food safety, resources deployment, product quality and social responsibility initiatives.It's hard to find a fresh foods category other than value-added salads that has so successfully leveraged technology to grow into an almost $12 billion industry.By John Gurrisi, Fresh Express Vice President, Food Safety and QualityIn 1989 Fresh Express created the retail fresh salad category with the invention of its breathable bag technology that extended shelf life long enough to allow distribution of fresh salads to retail grocers nationwide. And every year since then, there has been a steady climb to leverage the latest and greatest technological innovations for the growth of the category and the benefit of growers and shippers, manufacturers and ultimately, consumers. As background, it's important to understand that the delivery of fresh salads to consumers is an unbelievably time-condensed endeavor. From the time fresh lettuces and leafy greens are first harvested to when they are packaged and ready to ship,only a mere 24-72 hours have elapsed. To accomplish this freshness feat and to maintain the utmost rigor in food safety practices, technology must ­ and does ­ play a major role. Recent additions to the technology platforms at Fresh Express are centered squarely around food safety. These include a complete reimagining of our end-to-end traceability system to enhance accuracy and speed as well as the implementation of an advanced vision system to control the potential for allergen error or mislabeling. Along the way, we have also increased the digitization of our food safety management systems and employed modern technologies to improve food safety within the processing plants. This article focuses on two of the most recent and significant technological advancements at Fresh Express: Traceability and the Master Pack Vision Program.Supply Chain Wide Traceability ­ Where Salads Grow and Where They GoRapid and accurate trace back and trace forward capabilities are a cornerstone of any credible food safety program. Without rapid and accurate traceability, the exact scope of a foodborne illness outbreak, recall or other food safety event cannot be accurately determined in order to identify the growing field where the possible cause of the John Gurrisi
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