The term product traceability is the ability to identify and track a product to its point of origin. The point of origin may be a sub product, production line, herd, farm, or supplier. Traceability provides a means of identifying the products or parts of products for recall in the case of consumer  safety issues, such as food borne illness outbreaks. In the retail industry, traceability has typically been one forward one back which is no longer considered acceptable by many.

Sourced: ictinagriculture.org