FDA announces intent to delay food traceability rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced its intention to extend the compliance date for the food traceability rule of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which was set for January 2026, by 30 months.

The FDA said it intends to extend the compliance date using appropriate procedures at a later time, including publishing a proposed rule in the Federal Register. “The final rule requires a higher degree of coordination between members of the food industry than has been required in the past,” the FDA said.

“Therefore, to achieve the full public health benefits of the final rule, all covered entities must be in compliance. Even those few entities who are well positioned to meet the final rule’s requirements by January 2026 have expressed concern about the timeline, in part because of their reliance on receiving accurate data from their supply chain partners, who are not similarly situated.

“Therefore, FDA intends to allow industry additional time, across all regulated sectors, to fully implement the final rule’s requirements.”

Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO of FMI — The Food Industry Association, praised the decision, but added, “While additional time is critical for efficient implementation across all sectors, we also strongly believe FDA should reexamine certain aspects of the rule to provide flexibility for the industry to improve traceability without unnecessarily burdening the supply chain and increasing food costs to consumers.””The food traceability rule is the most complex FDA regulation our industry has ever faced,” Sarasin said.

“Our member companies are spending millions of dollars every day to try to comply with its complexity, even as it is clear the rule is unworkable in its current form and may not achieve the agency’s stated goals. “We thank the Trump administration for taking steps necessary to provide more time for problem solving, technological innovation and collaboration that helps make compliance achievable for industry while improving food safety and public health for consumers.”

“Our member companies are spending millions of dollars every day to try to comply with its complexity, even as it is clear the rule is unworkable in its current form and may not achieve the agency’s stated goals. “We thank the Trump administration for taking steps necessary to provide more time for problem solving, technological innovation and collaboration that helps make compliance achievable for industry while improving food safety and public health for consumers.”

Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, said, “This decision is extremely disappointing and puts consumers at risk of getting sick from unsafe food because a small segment of the industry pushed for delay, despite having 15 years to prepare.””Many retailers have already said that they expect their suppliers to follow the rule’s requirements in advance of the compliance date, but today’s announcement may interfere with this progress. Delaying this critical food safety rule undermines the administration’s goal of making America healthy again.”Brian Ronholm

Consumer Reports added, “Congress required the FDA to enact the traceability rule as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was passed with bipartisan support in 2010.”

“FSMA directed FDA to propose recordkeeping requirements for certain ‘high risk’ foods no later than January 2013. When FDA failed to propose the recordkeeping requirements, the Center for Food Safety sued the agency, leading to a federal court order mandating that it propose requirements by September 2020 and finalize the rulemaking process by November 2022,” Consumer Reports said.

Sarah Sorscher, director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said, “In the year 2025, the United States has access to some of the best technology in the world for keeping track of products moving through the food system, yet we still have a hard time figuring out where a bag of lettuce came from and getting contaminated peanut butter off the shelves.”

“This rule, when fully implemented, will shed new light on the inner workings of our food system,” Sorscher said. “Unfortunately, this delay will only serve to keep the public in the dark.”

–The Hagstrom Report