Traceability in food businesses
Traceability helps food businesses and authorities withdraw or recall unsafe food quickly and provides essential information if a food safety issue occurs.
What food businesses must record
Food businesses must be able to identify who supplied them with food and who they supplied food to — often called one step back, one step forward. This applies to all parts of the food chain, including primary producers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, caterers, distributors, transporters and food brokers. Even if a product leaves your control, you may still be legally responsible for it.
Minimum requirements
Under the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002, all food and feed businesses have been required to keep basic traceability records since 1 January 2005.
If you sell directly to the final consumer, you do not need detailed records of every customer, but you should still keep general information about what was sold and when. If you know some customers are buying food for use in their own businesses, you must keep separate records for those transactions.
What your records should include
As a minimum, traceability records should contain:
- name and address of the supplier or customer
- type and quantity of the product
- date of the transaction and delivery
Where relevant, it is also helpful to record:
- the approval number of the manufacturer or processor
- batch numbers or durability dates
Keeping clear records helps protect your business and ensures you can act quickly if a food safety problem arises.
Make an enquiry
If you need advice on traceability requirements, you can contact us for support.