FOOD TRACEABILITY RULE IN RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS

This course is intended for any retail food establishments, particularly small operators. Course participants will learn about the details of the Food Traceability Rule, such as what foods are subject, required data collection, key components of a traceability plan, and requirements for providing information to the FDA. Course participants will have the opportunity to leave with an initial draft of a traceability plan. The first portion of this course will be completed independently online, while the second part is in person. 

Detailed description: FDA recently published the Food Traceability Rule as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) which requires additional recordkeeping for entities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods that are part of FDA’s Food Traceability List (FTL). The foods on this list were chosen due to their high-risk nature and history of causing foodborne illness. A major component of the Food Traceability Rule is the collection of key data elements (KDE) that are associated with critical tracking events (CTE); these are key pieces of information such as location, quantity, and date to be reported when doing specific higher-risk processing or preparation steps, including harvesting, cooling, and transporting. Collecting specified data will provide the consistency needed to improve traceback investigations, and the required traceability plan helps the food industry systematically maintain records. There is a need among retail food establishments, many who have not yet been subject to FSMA, for a rapid solution to learn about the requirements for this traceability rule and the best way to implement practices to adhere to the newly applicable legislation.

The Safe Plates team at NC State University, in partnership with North Carolina A&T State University, The Ohio State University, and High Point University have developed a curriculum on the Traceability Rule for Retail Food Establishments, with a particular focus on small operators. Course participants will learn about the details of the Food Traceability Rule, such as what foods are subject, required data collection, key components of the traceability plan, and requirements for providing data to the FDA. Aside from the knowledge gained, operators will develop valuable skills to apply information to their establishment and work with their supplier for mutual compliance.

Participants will have approximately 45 minutes of pre-course work on Moodle. You can complete this at your own pace, and course information will be sent about a month before your scheduled live session. The second part of the course will be the live session, held virtually or in person (see the location and details for more information). Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate.

This work is supported by the Food Safety Outreach Program award no. 2024-70020-43471 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.