Food Supply Chain
Food lots moving from primary production through processing and distribution to consumers.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
3 bundles · 4 layers · 5 findings · 11 questions
Traceability Which lots exist and how they moved one step back and one step forward.
Lots and events
Lots identified at each stage and the shipping, receiving and transformation events between them.
Lot identity
A traceable lot with its product, quantity, producer and production date.
- Which lot or batch is this, and which product and quantity does it contain?
- Who produced or packed the lot, and when?
One step back, one step forward
The supplier the lot came from and the customers it went to.
- From which supplier and lot was this lot received?
- To which customers and in what quantities was this lot shipped?
- Was the lot transformed or mixed with other lots, and which inputs went in?
Conditions and safety Whether food was kept safe and fit along the way.
Cold chain and handling
Temperature and handling conditions during storage and transport.
Temperature compliance
Recorded temperatures compared with the limits for the product.
- What temperature limits apply to this product during storage and transport?
- Do the recorded temperatures show any excursion, and for how long?
Hazard control
Hazard analysis, testing and food business authorization.
Controlled operator
A food business with its registration and hazard control plan.
- Is each food business in the chain registered or approved by the competent authority?
- Does the operator have a hazard control plan, and were critical limits met for this lot?
Incidents and recall What happens when a hazard is found.
Withdrawal and recall
Withdrawal from trade, consumer recall and notification of authorities.
Recall scope
The lots, customers and markets reached by a recall.
- Which lots are affected, and how far did they travel in the chain?
- Were authorities and consumers notified, and when?
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- World Models
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- standalone-mm
- Navigation path
- NAV.PHY.FLW.FOOD
- Domain
- PHY.FLW.FOOD
- Industry
- Cross-industry
- Tags
- foodsupplychainphy.flw.food
- Also called
- F4
What it is Filled
A food supply chain is the sequence of actors, places and movements that bring food from primary production through processing, storage, transport and distribution to the consumer. It is described by lots, the events that move or transform them and the conditions they were kept in. Drinking water supply stays with the water and food supply card (world-f4); the food product itself and farm operations have their own models.
Why it exists Filled
Food lots moving from primary production through processing and distribution to consumers.
Distinguishing features Filled
- It follows lots and the events between actors, not the food product as a type or the farm that grew it.
- Traceability one step back and one step forward is the core duty of each operator in the chain.
- Conditions such as temperature during storage and transport are part of the record, not just the routes.
- It differs from general material flow accounting, which balances masses without identifying lots.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Change lot, date or origin data after the fact without a recorded correction.
- Release a lot for sale when its hazard control results are missing or failed.
- Hide a temperature excursion or test failure from the next operator or the authority.
- Delay notifying authorities of a food safety hazard when the law requires notification.
- Disclose supplier and customer relations beyond what traceability and the law require.
Only with a human decision
- Deciding a withdrawal or consumer recall.
- Releasing a lot after a temperature excursion or borderline test result.
- Notifying the competent authority of a food safety incident.
May
- Record shipping, receiving and transformation events with lot identifiers.
- Trace a lot backward to suppliers and forward to customers.
- Monitor temperature records and flag excursions against product limits.
- Prepare draft recall scopes from traceability data.
Moral aspects Filled
- Unsafe food and water cause illness and death, so traceability and recall must work quickly and completely.
- Food loss along the chain wastes resources while people go hungry.
- Smallholders and workers can be squeezed by powerful buyers in the chain.
Who is affected
- Consumers, especially vulnerable groups
- Farmers, fishers and food workers
- Food businesses along the chain
- Food safety authorities
Owners Filled
Steward
Each food business owns its own traceability records for the steps it performs, and the competent food authority oversees them.
Master systems
- Food business registers of competent authorities
- Traceability and event repositories
- Warehouse and transport management systems
- Rapid alert and recall notification systems
Links to other meta-models Filled
related
- world-f4-water-and-food-supply - Legacy world model for water and food supply that this card refines at the chain level.
references
- world-m4-food-and-drink - Food products as types are described there; this card follows their lots.
- world-k9-agriculture-and-husbandry - Primary production that feeds the chain is described there.
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- A lot is identified by the producer's batch or lot number together with a product identifier such as a GTIN.
- Locations and parties are identified by registration numbers of food businesses or by GS1 Global Location Numbers.
- Logistic units are identified by serial shipping container codes.
Direct properties required Filled
- Product temperature during storage and transport in degrees Celsius, logged at stated intervals.
- Quantity of a lot as net mass in kilograms or as a count of units.
- Relative humidity in percent where the product requires humidity control.
- Elapsed time in hours between stages and remaining shelf life in days at each handover.
Recognition required Filled
- A lot is recognized by its label with product name, lot number and date marking on packaging or logistic units.
- Often confused with the product type, with a single shipment or with an order.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- A lot can be traced back to its sources and forward to its recipients when each step records its events.
- Temperature and handling records can show whether a lot stayed within its limits.
- A recall can be scoped to the lots and customers actually affected.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Foodborne illness from contamination, temperature abuse or undeclared allergens.
- Food fraud such as substitution or false origin claims.
- Slow or incomplete recalls when traceability records are missing.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- GS1 EPCIS for capturing and sharing traceability events.
- GS1 identification keys such as GTIN, GLN and SSCC.
- Codex Alimentarius standards for food hygiene and labelling.
Context of use required Filled
- Applies to food and drinking water from primary production through processing, storage, transport and retail.
- In the European Union traceability and recall duties follow Regulation (EC) No 178/2002; other jurisdictions have comparable food law.
Sources Filled
- Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, European Union
- General Principles of Food Hygiene (CXC 1-1969), Codex Alimentarius Commission
- ISO 22000 Food safety management systems, ISO
Open questions
- Planned model: boundary questions, research and every section remain to be written.
Machine files
Provenance
planned (registry candidate) · todo
Built from: models/runtime-index.json, ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-flw-003-food-supply-chain.json
Planned entry, hidden from the catalogue until researched.