Evaluating data on a computer to generate usable information. In the food industry it covers everything from laboratory results management to production planning, traceability databases, and statistical process control. Turning raw measurements into decisions — releasing a batch, adjusting a process, tracing a lot — depends on reliable information processing systems. As food businesses digitize, the integrity of these systems becomes a food-safety matter in its own right, with data integrity expectations now written into quality standards. Reliable systems turn laboratory data into timely, defensible food-safety decisions.