Food Traceability Rule comes down to one thing: the label

[Viable Food News Desk]

Publisher: Supermarket News
Published: October 14, 2026
Source: Read at Supermarket News
Category: Food Access

The FSMA 204, or Food Traceability Rule, deadline was pushed from January 2026 to July 2028. At the 2026 Global Floral and Produce Show in Orlando, Florida, Andy Kennedy of iFoodDS told attendees to check whether case labels and barcodes can be scanned and whether pallet lot codes match outbound Advanced Shipping Notices. Carol McMillan of Naturine Farms said unscannable PTI labels and missing ASNs are most likely leading to chargebacks. The FDA has published flexibility allowing companies to use their headquarters location instead of the exact field packing location as the Traceability Lot Code source, and a partnership is testing a three-way matching system for cases picked from pallets.

Why this matters: Independent grocers and food-access operators that receive produce may face chargebacks or disrupted receiving if labels cannot be scanned or shipment information is missing. Checking labels, printers, pallet records, and ASNs can help identify compliance problems before the July 2028 deadline.

This post summarizes and links to the original source. It does not reproduce the full article.