Lot traceability for food manufacturers answers one question under pressure: which lots went into this product, and where did it ship? The record runs one step back and one step forward (one-up, one-down), and it’s easiest to keep when it’s captured with the production records operators already enter.
With receiving, production and shipping in one database, tracing a lot forward or back is a query, and a mock recall drill is a report you run. Your food safety team decides which fields are required; the app makes them hard to skip.
FSMA 204, FDA’s Food Traceability Rule
The rule covers companies that manufacture, process, pack or hold foods on FDA’s Food Traceability List, with some full and partial exemptions. It requires records of Key Data Elements for Critical Tracking Events such as receiving, transformation and shipping and, unless exempt, an electronic sortable spreadsheet within 24 hours of an FDA request (or a reasonable time FDA agrees to) when needed to assist FDA during an outbreak, recall or other threat to public health. The original compliance date was January 20, 2026. Congress has since directed FDA not to enforce the rule before July 20, 2028, and FDA says it intends to follow that directive (status as of November 2026, per FDA’s FSMA 204 page). We build records, not compliance advice: confirm what applies to your products with FDA or your food safety team.
