U.S. FDA Proposes New Requirements of Additional Traceability Records for Foods

On September 23, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States proposed to establish "Requirements of additional traceability records for certain foods" in accordance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

The scope of the proposed rule is to have robust and effective traceability system across the designated industries, applicable to foods listed under Food Traceability List [Section 204(d), FSMA]. Some of the foods listed are leafy greens, tomatoes, cheeses (other than hard cheeses), shell eggs, nut butter, finfish (including smoked finfish), crustaceans, mollusks (bivalves), ready-to-eat deli salads and fruits and vegetables (fresh cut).

Other objectives:

• To itroduce the raceability record keepings for tracking critical information in the supply chains.
• To allow rapid identification of contaminated food and reduce food recalls.
• To mitigate foodborne illnesses and outbreaks to protect public health.

Though limited to only certain foods, the requirement is to have an end to end traceability for all foods and to comply with FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint.

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