Traceability & Recall: How To Avoid FSMA Compliance Risk

By Jack Payne

The need to comply with new FSMA traceability and recall requirements is prompting food and beverage processors to evaluate their processes and technology. Traditionally, traceability procedures are cumbersome when time is of the essence. The FDA intends to change that. If your current traceability and recall records are housed in paper files and/or disconnected systems, you are accepting compliance risk. Piecing together fragmented data to provide traceability history in a recall situation is time-consuming and error-prone. New FSMA requirements mandate change and empower the FDA to enforce mandatory recalls when traceability requirements cannot be demonstrated.

Today, purpose-built ERP systems for the food and beverage industry significantly improve the ease, speed, and accuracy of traceability, helping you to react quickly and minimize risk in a recall. In addition to meeting regulatory requirements and customer standards for mock recalls, food- and beverage-specific technology can offer prevention and efficiency benefits that general ERPs do not.