NUREMBERG, Germany -- I've spent this week in Europe for Embedded World here but transited through the UK, and it's hard to miss the top news story here: The unfortunate discovery of horsemeat in frozen beef burgers on what appears to be a massive scale.
The scandal has provoked a recall of the burgers with "equine DNA" from supermarkets chains such as Tesco (NASDAQ:TESO), Asda (owned by Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT)), Sainsbury's (LON:SBRY), and the institutional caterer Sodexho who supply schools, hospitals, and the military.
Completely transparent: The horsemeat scandal in the UK highlights the need for visibility throughout the supply chain -- any supply chain.
Just to make sure we aren't being too complacent here in the United States, it is likely that horsemeat may have made it into your local IKEA's Swedish meatballs -- don't forget that food is a global industry with a huge supply chain. It seems that horses from Eastern Europe were shipped to slaughter houses in France and Ireland for processing and somewhere in that chain the meat was disguised or fraudulently introduced into ground beef to cut cost.
Opaque, complex
Britain, in particular, is a horse-loving country, so this has been a shock to people. But I think the real news is the highly complex and opaque supply chain that led to this debacle. Looking at the scandal, some key themes emerge:
Suppliers from a wide geographical area sending raw material to a few large processors
Differing regulations and cultural attitudes between the countries that are trading
Razor-thin margins
Lack of traceability of product
Rising commodity prices
Products changing hands many times without an audit trail
Inability to spot counterfeiting or tampering
Does that sound suspiciously like the electronics supply chain? Any global supply chain is vulnerable to these factors, and the potential for fraud or malfeasance is part of human nature. But the question is "What are you doing to secure your supply chain?"
Trust, verify
Here at Embedded World, I heard that Green Hills Software is launching an end-to-end system authentication platform that can trace systems from the chip to the board and the system software so that is worth a look in a future story.
I also think the old Ronald Reagan quote of "trust but verify" comes into play, and the onus is on you to work with partners you know and trust. It's a fact of life that we will always have a grey market but how much do you know about the parts you are buying?
There is a stern lesson to be learned from this saga and we should prevent this happening in our industry. One meat processor even blamed the victims by stating that the ridiculously low margins forced on him by huge buyers made this inevitable.
Not a smart move, but how rough are you on your suppliers?
Susan, A modern soldier, (warfighter they get called now) has a whole lot of things that they are carrying already. A few protien bars may last for a while, but if you are already running with fifty pounds stashed on your person in a bunch of locations there is not much room left for more food. And almost none of them are planning on not "getting home for supper". But sometimes "lost" happens, or a group gets cut off, or a plane crashes. Survival is for when the plans fall apart, it is the backup plan for when things go wrong somehow. So you see that after training every survival situation exists because things did not follow the plan.
As for vegitarians, I don't think that I ever noticed any of them, at least nobody made a big deal about it. Survival is not about preference, it is about keeping oneself strong enough to stay alive.
One more thing is that I never met any horses in any survival situation, neither training or tactical. Horses seem to know when to leave.
Thanks for all that. We don't really think of those things, do we? I am not sure what I would do in such situation. I suppose vegetarians forget they are vegetarians in survival situations.
What about taking protein bars with you? I am not sure I would dare to eat raw animals. In fact, I wouldn't. But then again, I don't think I will be in a situation where I could test this. :/ Not that I would be interested in testing it, or anything.
Yes, the food supply chain can be dangerous. ANd speaking of milk in China, it was last year or the year before last that China was going to start selling milk from GM cows. I wonder if they label the milk, or the other product as GM, do you know?
@dblaza, David indeed, but think about the vast volume and velocity of the food supply chain. It's a wonder there aren't more melamine/horsemeat/Ikea problems. Instead they're relatively rare (the occasional California lettuce taint notwithstanding).
This is probably due in part to the fact that humans are smart enough not to soil their sustenance, but also to a pretty sophisticated and relatively secure supply chain.
Susan, we learned to eat a variety of bugs, barks, plants, and fungus. Also about which rodents can be consumed raw. In fact we only learned about things that can be consumed raw, since cooking can attract attention. Also learned that there are some animals that are so full of parasites that they should never be eaten, or even touched.
I can promis you that a whole lot of things on the list would make your stomach revolt, even from just reading them.
That makes it even more enjoyable eating normal food. BUT there are no picky-eaters coming out of that kind of class.
Absolutely, the food chain is probably where a whole lot of danger is found, more in some parts of the world then in others. I was going to include a comment about the melamine poisoning, but we were talkingabout horsemeat, not processed foods such as milk.
In response to William K I think the food supply chain can be dangerous, just think back to the melamine in the Chinese baby milk powder, I think there were deaths in that case.
There is a part of the world where people eat cats. I just don't remember where. In some other places cows are sacred, not food. In other places they eat things that just a thought of it makes my stomach revolt. In fact, eating other animals shouldn't be considered right.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
To save this item to your list of favorite EBN content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This