YAKIMA, WASH. — A partnership between Kwik Lok, which makes bag closures, and Trustwell, a software maker and food technology company, will offer closures that will not only provide detailed information about the food and where it came from, the information could be accessed by retailers and consumers. 

The closures will have two-dimensional barcodes — QR codes — that provide information to ensure product safety and regulatory compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act and Sunrise 2027.

Sunrise 2027 moves food labeling away from standard UPC barcodes to two-dimensional barcodes that provide more information about the product. The barcode standards are established by GS1, a nonprofit organization that sets international standards for coding systems.

“It’s really going to be driving a significant shift in how we interact with brands, with products and with the entire supply chain because it’s providing visibility at a level that we’ve never seen before,” said Chris Latta, new business development director at Kwik Lok. “With UPC, you can only look up a few things off that one scan. Usually, it’s just price and location and things like that, whereas a two-dimensional barcode can deliver a fully enriched experience that also provides safety, that also provides traceability and also can deliver marketing messages, promotions, all different types of tailored content to the consumer.” 

The labels can be printed on site to provide information down to the lot number, Latta said.

“When the bag is closed, we’re delivering a label that is having the lot information printed right onto it,” he said. “We’ve been actually doing this for decades in different formats, but now our printers are able to print that QR code that will then carry the lot level data down to item level. That’s the big win here. When it comes to tracing a recall, we can trace it down to the last bag as we like to say.”

Latta said his company is excited to be pairing its closure labels with Trustwell’s FoodLogiQ Traceability software to deliver enhanced value to customers. The new codes will provide visibility into a company’s supply chain and will reduce the time and costs associated with recalls, among other benefits.

"We are excited and proud to partner with Kwik Lok on one of the most impactful traceability efforts to move the industry forward,” said Katy Jones, chief executive officer, Trustwell. “At Trustwell, we envision a future where traceability data can be leveraged at every point along the farm-to-fork journey to build safer, more sustainable food supply chains, meet modern traceability requirements and provide consumers with the information they need to feed their families.”