Browsing by Subject "supply chain"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    African Swine Fever-Vitamin Supply Chain Workshop Notes
    (2019-04-26) Shurson, Gerald C; Urriola, Pedro E; van de Ligt, Jennifer LG; Sullivan, Polly L; Sundberg, Paul
    An African swine fever-vitamin meal supply chain workshop involving key industry stakeholders was conducted on April 26, 2019 on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. Several vitamins are produced exclusively in China, while others are also primarily produced in China by a few manufacturers. Likewise, most vitamin manufacturers produce human and animal grade vitamins using the same quality assurance and controls that meet human grade standards. Most meeting participants consider the risk of ASF introduction from vitamins to be low but recognize that, if contaminated, vitamins can be a vehicle for virus introduction in the U.S. Several research and development priorities were identified including 1) develop a surrogate for ASF virus for monitoring processes that can inactivate the virus if it was present, 2) develop third party biosecurity modules and audits that can be implemented for feed ingredient manufacturers, 3) conduct a risk assessment of virus transmission throughout the vitamin supply chain, and 4) explore the use of blockchain technology for greater transparency and trust in the vitamin supply chain. Several education and communication priorities were also identified. A clear, transparent, and unified message is needed to educate the feed and pork industry to decrease confusion and suspicion of the perceived risks of virus transmission in the vitamin supply chain. Key components of this story include: 1) what is known about ASF virus characteristics, survival, and inactivation, 2) general description of raw materials, chemical and fermentation processes used to produce various vitamins, 3) current quality assurance programs, 4) packaging and transport, 5) potential for cross contamination from other porcine derived feed ingredients in multi-species feed mills, 6) approved sources vs. brokers and traders, and 7) holding times, origin of carriers, and premix manufacturing processes used before delivery to feed mills and commercial swine farms. Vitamin suppliers have industry wide standards for ingredient safety that minimize the opportunity for virus introduction. However, pork producers are responsible for knowing their suppliers and asking the right questions to screen potential suppliers that do not follow standards of safety. A comprehensive description of the entire vitamin supply chain is needed and a unified, accurate, and consistent message to the pork industry.
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    Blockchain Technology and the Potential Applicability in the Feed Industry
    (2019-04) Zhang, Yue; Lee, Soomin; van de Ligt, Jennifer L.G.
    Information on the current applications of blockchain in food systems and the potential applicability, uses, and limitations of blockchain for feed ingredients common to the swine industry was gathered from a multitude of sources. The information on applications representative of supply chain logistics for imported feed ingredients was evaluated and limitations of blockchain in tracing lots of packaged ingredients vs. ingredients in bulk transportation was assessed. Overall, blockchain application is a viable technology to ensure traceability of feed ingredients. Blockchain provides key benefits including transaction security, auditability, and transparency. However, these benefits are accompanied by costs including, most importantly, the need for all-in participation and a value-driven incentive to participate that is shared across the supply chain. In addition, due to the bulk commodity nature of many feed ingredients common to the swine industry, traceability to individual manufacturer or producer through any technology becomes limited to the largest storage and/or transportation unit in the supply chain. Ingredients that move through the supply chain as discreetly packaged products, whether in kilogram packages or metric ton super sacks, have an easier entry into and more optimal traceability within blockchain technology. These concepts were modeled into a scenario for potential soybean shipments including where suppliers may verify the implementation of key preventive controls to decrease the risk of disease transmission via feed distribution.
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    Blockchain Technology and the Potential Applicability in the Feed Industry - Condensed
    (2019-04) Zhang, Yue; Lee, Soomin; van de Ligt, Jennifer L.G.
    Blockchain applications offer the feed supply chain incredible benefits and efficiencies in the goal to improve feed safety and animal health. The power of utilizing blockchain technology in feed supply chain transactions is in allowing parties to trade in the absence of a mediator or trusting relationship. This is the cornerstone of all blockchain applications - secure trading of ‘things’, both physical and virtual, without middlemen and historical relationships. However, implementation of the technology will experience hurdles and will require consensus among the industry for standards and methods of data collection and sharing. In addition, the cost of entry to access the data and who will pay for it will be a driving factor in the success of blockchain technology adoption. And finally, it should be recognized that blockchain applications depend absolutely on the reputability and accuracy of the data included in the blocks that are recorded in the chain.
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    Feasibility Study: establishing halal meat processing in Central Minnesota
    (University of Minnesota Extension, 2023-09-18) Klieger, Michelle; Scheer, Fawn; Mamedov, Serdar; Pesch, Ryan; Hoffman, Travis
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    Interdisciplinary, Cross-Supply Chain Approaches to Food Systems Improvement
    (2020-10) Ringling, Keagan
    The field of nutrition is rapidly evolving into a new paradigm characterized by the complex, adaptive, wicked challenges faced by food systems professionals. Systems approaches are required to manage the complex issues at the intersection of the food system, the environment, and human health. Despite these complex, interlinked challenges, nutrition research and training remain siloed. Given the current landscape of systems problems, new systems-based approaches to research and training are required. Similar to the nutrition ecology framework, these approaches are requisite to the successful management of the health, environmental, economic and societal implications based on complex food system actions. In that vein, this work provides a framework, along with examples of hands-on experiential learning opportunities within a nutrition graduate program focused on systems approaches in nutrition. This is demonstrated through interdisciplinary collaborations across the supply chain and food system. First, we seek to understand supply chain barriers to whole grain availability and access in restaurants. Then, we shift focus to the development of a new sustainable crop, pennycress. Here, we collaborate upstream in the supply chain with plant geneticists to identify genetic targets to improve the quality of raw materials. Then we collaborate with economists to model production economics. Overall, this approach mixes adapted socio-ecological, biological, and economic analyses to provide a more holistic perspective to food systems development. Then we discuss the role of the land grant university in developing sustainable food systems, and we discuss learnings from our interdisciplinary, systems training approach. Finally, based on the work as a whole, we provide recommendations regarding a three-step process to catalyze future systems approaches in nutrition.
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    Understanding the vitamin supply chain and relative risk of transmission of foreign animal diseases
    (2019) Shurson, Gerald C; Urriola, Pedro E
    The U.S. pork industry is dependent on vitamins manufactured in China because there are limited, and in some cases, there are no other country of origin options to meet industry volume demands. Initial studies have provided evidence that the African Swine Fever virus (ASFv) can survive in choline chloride, but not vitamin D3. However, it is unknown if this virus can survive in other vitamins. The risk of ASFv or other Foreign Animal Diseases (FAD) being introduced from China into the U.S. through vitamin imports appears to be low, but the impact of introduction is high. Vitamin manufacturing involves many highly technical chemical or fermentation processes that utilize commonly accepted quality control certification schemes and sanitary processes to meet human food grade, and often pharmaceutical standards in the U.S. and E.U. Although gelatin used in manufacturing vitamin A and D3 originates from pigskin, there appears to be sufficient thermal treatments used in extracting, concentrating, and sterilizing gelatin to inactivate pathogens. Some vitamin suppliers visit and audit corn cob suppliers for choline chloride production to verify that there is a killing step in corn cob carrier production. Only clean, unused, sealed containers and materials (e.g. pallets) are used for packaging and transporting vitamins to the U.S., usually under hazardous materials shipping standards due to high purity. All damaged containers and packages containing vitamins during transport are destroyed and not used in manufacturing swine feeds. Once purified vitamins arrive in the U.S., they are distributed to U.S. vitamin premix manufacturers for blending with carriers. Only carriers produced in North America are used by the U.S. vitamin premix manufacturers to minimize the risk of cross-contamination. However, there are a few unconventional brokers and traders that may import vitamins from China and market them using limited if any biosecurity and quality assurance control procedures. Obtaining vitamins and premixes from these entities increases the risk of ASFv introduction. Pork producers are responsible for selecting reputable suppliers of all feed ingredients by asking appropriate questions to avoid potential suppliers that do not follow standards of feed safety. Vitamins are unique compared to other feed ingredients because they are sensitive to high heat treatment and pH, which can substantially reduce their nutritional value if these types of virus mitigation treatments are applied.