US FDA focuses on affordable traceability tools to ensure food safety

Affordability can be a barrier to the adoption of tech-enabled traceability systems, especially for smaller companies

The US Food and Drug Administration has recently launched a challenge to spur the development of affordable, tech-enabled traceability tools to help protect people and animals from contaminated foods by enabling the rapid identification of their sources and helping remove them from the marketplace as quickly as possible. 

The FDA New Era of Smarter Food Safety Low- or No-Cost Tech-Enabled Traceability Challenge advances a goal set forth in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint, released in July 2020, to encourage the development of creative financial models for low- to no-cost traceability solutions that would enable food producers of all sizes to participate in a scalable, cost-effective way. Tech-enabled traceability is one of the foundational core elements of the New Era initiative. However, affordability can be a barrier to the adoption of tech-enabled traceability systems, especially for smaller companies. 

Through this challenge, the agency is asking food technology solution providers, public health advocates, entrepreneurs and innovators across the human and animal food supply chain to present food traceability solutions that utilise economic models that are affordable, with costs that are proportional to the benefits received and can scale to encourage widespread adoption.  

The challenge invites submissions for tech-enabled solutions that address the traceability needs and challenges unique to one or more segments of the human and animal food supply chain:  

• primary producers (such as entities involved in farming and fishing); 
• importers; 
• manufacturers/processors;  
• distributors; 
• retailers and foodservice

To provide maximum flexibility, participants may offer solutions that are based on new or innovative models that are affordable for smaller enterprises.

The FDA will accept submissions from June 1 through July 30 and intends to announce up to 12 winners at the end of the challenge.