The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a series of three virtual one-day public meetings at the end of 2020 to discuss the recently released proposed rule “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods” (Food Traceability Proposed Rule). The purpose of the public meetings was to discuss the proposed rule, and to support the public's evaluation and commenting process on the proposed rule.
Following each of the public meetings the FDA posted a video recording and transcript on its public meeting webpage. The FDA is now publishing the remaining materials discussed at the meetings, the six slide presentations. One of those slide presentations, the supply chain example discussed by Andrew Kennedy from the FDA’s Office of Food Policy and Response, is being published together with a video of his presentation and a more detailed overview of the example that was presented.
The supply chain example discussed during the public meetings was of a salad kit prepared with cherry tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, and other foods, focused on the tomato grower, salad kit maker, distributor, and retail store. At the public meetings, FDA explained that this is only one example and it does NOT represent the only way data could be kept and shared under the proposed requirements.
These materials add to other recently released resources, including an FAQ prepared based on questions received from stakeholders. None of the posted materials make changes to the proposed rule. FDA is providing these resources to help increase stakeholder awareness and understanding of the proposal. FDA will carefully consider comments submitted to the public docket when drafting the final rule, which may differ from the proposed rule. Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments during the comment period, which has been extended until February 22, 2021. Comments can be submitted to regulations.gov, Docket ID: FDA-2014-N-0053.
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