Norwegian Grocer To Let Shoppers Track Seafood Freshness With Mobile Phones

Oslo, Norway (AHN) - Norwegians who want to ensure the safety of their favorite salmon will soon be able to trace when and where the fish was caught by using their mobile phones. Food chain Coop will roll out the system after Christmas.

Under the system, Norwegians will scan the bar code on the packing and send the code afterward. This will transmit the code to a database which sends back information where the fish was caught or cultured, date of packaging and expiration date.

The system uses a software developed by TraceTracker, a local firm. Behind the fish tracking project is the Norwegian Seafood Association.

Fishing is one of the country's major industries. Its fish catch are mainly herring, salmon, mackerel and trout, exported to Russia and other European markets mostly. On October Norwegian seafood export reached an all time high of $730.7 million (4 billion kroner), the highest ever logged in one month, according to the Export Council for Fish. Its cumulative export for the first 10 months of 2007 tipped $5.37 billion (29.4 billion).