Food Safety Solution Built for Beijing Food Safety Administration Office Secured Olympic Village Meals "From the Farm to the Fork"

    ChinaHRP.com MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 20 -- BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE), one of the world's largest management and technology consulting firms, announced today that the Beijing Food Safety Administration Office (BFA) had selected the company for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Food Safety Action Program.

    While physical security is the primary focus of most events, a key component of the security plan for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing was food safety.  In order to ensure the safety of all the food that was served at the Olympic Games, BFA created a "first-of-its-kind" food security system called the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Food Safety Action Program.  To develop the system, BFA sought the assistance of BearingPoint, a leading management and technology consulting firm, and Aisino Corporation.

    The system tracked the movement, handling, storage and shelf-life of all the food from the farm where it was produced through the entire supply chain to the place where it was prepared and served-from "the Farm to the Fork".  The system covered 26 meal delivery companies, 119 Olympic hotels and 206 food delivery vehicles, and monitored more than 3,800 food deliveries.

    Martin Qi, managing director and leader of BearingPoint China's Public Service practice, said, "We are extremely proud to have participated in the development of this unique system.  Food security and safety were paramount priorities for the organizers of the Olympic Games and the sophistication of this system helped ensure that food, grown around the region, traveled safely from the farm all the way to the plates that were served to athletes and visitors.

    "This is truly an incredible system and we congratulate the Beijing Food Safety Administration Office for a successful Olympics," Qi continued.

    In the system, each container of food was tracked using a bar-coding system or RFID tag at every phase in the supply chain from the manufacturer, through distribution centers and eventually to the caterers.  Every container of food was labeled with a unique identification code or tracking number and was scanned into the system at every location in the supply chain.  During each scan, the system encrypted and transmitted the information collected from the bar-code or RFID system via the Internet to a centralized BFA database of information.  This database contained detailed information such as expiration dates, manufacturer, origination, etc., allowing BFA to not only monitor the safe passage of food throughout the supply chain, but ensure its freshness, quality and security. 

    In addition, every transportation vehicle was equipped with sensors that transmitted real-time information over the cellular network such as the location of each vehicle and even the temperature inside each of their refrigeration units.

    The system was not only capable of tracking the food throughout every step of the supply chain, it was intelligent enough to automatically generate alarms when food was potentially spoiled, mishandled or tampered with in any way.  In the event that the system detected food along the supply chain that was not fit for consumption, it was also capable of actually facilitating the logistics of a food recall, and even instructing and engaging emergency response teams if necessary.

    "This system is truly an end-to-end solution capable of providing a very high degree of food security," Qi continued.

    About BearingPoint, Inc.

    BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE) is one of the world's largest providers of management and technology consulting services to Global 2000 companies and government organizations in 60 countries worldwide.  Based in McLean, Va., the firm has approximately 16,000 employees focusing on the Public Services, Commercial Services and Financial Services industries.  BearingPoint professionals have built a reputation for knowing what it takes to help clients achieve their goals, and working closely with them to get the job done.  Our service offerings are designed to help our clients generate revenue, increase cost-effectiveness, manage regulatory compliance, integrate information and transition to "next-generation" technology.  For more information, visit the Company's Web site at http://www.BearingPoint.com