- The Safe Food Coalition—a group of non-governmental organizations—sent a letter to Congress asking it to rescind an appropriations rider preventing FDA from implementing the final food traceability rule, which the Agency issued in 2022.
- The final rule, “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods,” establishes additional traceability recordkeeping requirements for entities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold certain types of foods. FDA proposed to extend the compliance date to January 2028 last year, as we blogged, and the appropriations rider prevents the Agency from implementing the rule until July 2028.
- The letter references the current Cyclosporiasis outbreak, stating that consumers are currently avoiding fresh produce altogether due to “a crisis in consumer confidence.” However, according to the Coalition, compliance with FDA’s traceability rule “would prevent illness and support healthier diets.”
- The letter also notes that the delay in implementing the rule undermines food industry investments in anticipation of the rule, as well as erodes confidence in the rule and FDA’s ability to improve on the current “one step forward and one step back” traceability programs.
- The Coalition urges Congress to “send a message to reassure consumers and food companies alike that the federal government is committed to safer food.”
- Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor updates related to FDA’s food traceability rule.
