On June 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will launch its New Era of Smarter Food Safety Low- or No-Cost Tech-Enabled Traceability Challenge. The challenge asks stakeholders, including technology providers, entrepreneurs, and innovators, to develop traceability tools that can be implemented in a scalable, cost-effective way for food operations of all sizes.
One of the foundational core elements of the New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint is tech-enabled traceability: the ability to quickly track a food throughout the food system, from when it leaves its source to when it lands on consumers' plates. Achieving end-to-end food traceability will involve everyone in the supply chain, from source to table. To achieve that level of participation, FDA needs accessible tracing solutions for human and animal food companies of all sizes. This will help ensure that even small companies can use and benefit from new tracing technologies. Digitizing data at no- or low-cost through the use of creative financial models could allow the entire food system to get smarter together.