A QUANTITATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT APPROACH IN AN INTEGRATED COLD CHAIN SYSTEM ENSURING OPTIMAL SAFETY AND RELIABILITY FOR INDIAN AGRARIAN MARKET

Gourab Chatterjee, Debashish Bhattacharya

Abstract: India has an agrarian economy. More than 52% of its land is engaged in cultivation and with varying demography across the length and breadth of the nation, India has one of the most diverse vegetative portfolio. Each genre of produce has limits to the timetemperature abuse it can withstand beyond which deterioration starts from within which may not be apparent. We present a logistic model which ensures easy quality management of food produce emphasizing on optimization of produce quality and minimization of wastage and spoilage. The model deals with specific products and their relationship with standard tolerance levels to temperature abuse patterns along with measures to minimize them. We use the basic principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) in sync with operational pre-requisite programs to devise a robust system helping us achieve the desired level of optimization. Based on the Hub and Spoke model for freight transfer, this model focuses of two fundamental parameters, distance between the point of cultivation to the point of sale and time taken to traverse that distance maintaining the required time-temperature combinations. The algorithm emphasizes on acquiring data that can be utilized to predict a problem and assessment of risk before it occurs. This intervention can be made to mitigate product issues resulting cost impacts using the hype cycle for food supply chain. The system is intended to monitor produce temperature history, chain of custody and helping to ensure that a food is safe and effective throughout the supply chain when reaching its intended consumer.

Keywords: Cold chain, traceability, HACCP, Critical Control Point, hype cycle

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0304019