ReposiTrak, operating the world’s largest food supply chain network of nearly 30,000 retailers, wholesalers and suppliers, is leading a committee of food industry experts to address the challenges surrounding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new food traceability law, FSMA Section 204(d), or FSMA 204. Together, members of the ReposiTrak Traceability Network Advisory Committee (RTNAC) aim to advance the development of a complete, low-cost food traceability solution for compliance with FSMA 204.
“With just 28 months until the FDA’s enforcement deadline, rapid advancements in food traceability are happening now — and companies across the food supply chain are catching on,” said Derek Hannum, ReposiTrak chief customer officer. “However, the mindset that FSMA 204 compliance is either impossible — or only done through system changes and additional labor — must evolve.”
The RTNAC has outlined several objectives, including the following:
- The reduction of the actual and perceived costs and difficulties around adopting food traceability in any supply chain.
- Providing the industry with important insights and understanding around the FSMA 204 regulation and breaking down the barriers between category requirements.
FSMA 204 requires companies that manufacture, process, pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List (FTL) to establish and maintain key data element records for specific critical tracking events as a product traverses the food supply chain. The rule’s requirements, as well as the challenges and obstacles to compliance, vary based on the types of FTL foods harvested or handled by a company and by the intricacies of its supply chain. Guided by these principles, ReposiTrak reached out to individuals from the most recognized trade associations in each part of the industry. Each of those organizations, in turn, selected representatives knowledgeable about both traceability and their category’s compliance concerns.
The RTNAC members include the foremost experts in scientific and regulatory affairs for the industry as a whole and specifically for the seafood category, quality and food safety as it relates to dairy, eggs and other packaged goods, and communications within the grocery and wholesale community, as well as experts in the produce supply chain and in sustainability practices.
“The members of the RTNAC understand both the inherent benefits of true, end-to-end food traceability, and the tangible work it takes to achieve it,” said Hannum. “They’re the experts helping to get the concerns of their respective industries heard as we work toward industrywide adoption of our tech-enabled food traceability solution.”
Without requiring new hardware or software, additional labeling and scanning steps, or the use of outdated data capture methods, the ReposiTrak Traceability Network is the a low-cost, easy-to-adopt solution for FSMA 204 compliance. More than 8% of retail grocery stores, 1,200-plus suppliers and more than 20 distribution centers have already joined the network. Those interested in learning more about food traceability or how it might impact their company can call Derek Hannum, ReposiTrak chief customer officer, at 435-645-2230, or email him at dhannum@repositrak.com.
Source: ReposiTrak
