Product contamination in a multi-stage food supply chain

Food product contamination has potentially devastating effects on companies and supply chains. However, the impact of contamination has still not been thoroughly studied from a supply chain planning perspective. This paper models a contamination event in a generic food supply chain consisting of suppliers, processing centers, and retailers. Contamination is detected through either company or government agency sampling tests or through reports of a food borne illness. In this research, we analyze the impact of origin and choice of sampling strategies, and product and supply chain attributes on a contamination event. We also simulate a real-world tomato contamination case to gain further insights. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.