2022 in Review: Assessing Evolvements in Food Safety Regulations

With 69 of the 348 food safety bills introduced in the 2021–2022 state legislative sessions being passed into law, the regulatory environment has been marked by dynamic activity. Increased traceability requirements set forth in FSMA 204 require enhancements to the way food companies operationalize data collection, storage, and sharing. In an industry ecosystem where regulatory bodies are continually calling for a higher standard of food safety and quality, it is imperative for food suppliers and retailers to invest in the technology infrastructure that permits them to delight their customers while easily maintaining compliance. IoT-enabled digital decisioning coupled with blockchain technology are two areas of potential advancement for food companies looking to increase their traceability capabilities. 

Food Safety Regulatory Environment  

Over the past decade, there have been several high-profile instances of recalls that were implemented too late . Historically, food safety regulation has moved at a glacial pace. With the momentum of FSMA 204’s finalization and the continued criticism of the FDA’s lack of focus on food, it’s expected that more and more bills will be passed in the next couple years to combat cases of foodborne illness that erode the public’s trust in the nation’s food system. 

Additionally, in July 2022 the FDA published its blueprint for the New Era of Smart Food Safety , citing its intentions to build on existing efforts to partner with states and leverage shared data and analytics to maximize resources and speed in food safety initiatives. In September 2022, the FDA and CDC signed an MOU with the stated objective of advancing the uniformity, consistency, and capacity of retail food protection programs at the state, tribal, local, and territorial levels. Recognition from the federal level of the need for greater transparency and consistency in food safety data collection and the corrective actions that take place on the ground is apparent. 

Addressing Food Waste 

Adjacent to the issue of food borne illness is the problem of food waste in the United States. In the U.S., 30-40% of the food supply is wasted, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service . In general, much of the public has a high awareness about the amount of food waste in the U.S. and wishes to see behaviors change. While individuals can do their part to consume food before it goes bad and balance their purchasing habits to reduce waste, much of the systemic change will have to come at the industrial level where challenges can be solved at scale. 

If the food waste issue accelerates enough, the FDA may need to put regulations on waste itself. In some European countries, food retailers are required to pay fees when food waste goes over a certain limit, incentivizing discounts when needed and collaboration with NGOs to redistribute food before it goes to waste. 

Smart packaging is one component of the waste reduction effort that the food industry is working to advance, although the challenges and costs of sensing at the individual package level remains difficult. Asset-based sensing capabilities — continuous monitoring at the cooler, refrigerator, freezer, and other equipment levels — is a proven way to digitalize food safety measures and automate collection, storage, and sharing of records necessary in the tracing process. For both food waste and food safety, the critical element for retailers is how quickly they can react to excursions and incidents, and in turn seamlessly communicate the situation and corrective actions that their operations teams must take in order to prevent loss and ensure safety and quality.  

Role of Industrial Technology Vendors 

Historically, commercial vendors of AI, Machine Learning, IoT, cloud-based services, and distributed ledgers have operated in a fragmented manner, with closed proprietary systems being the norm. In the past few years, a growing trend has emerged that follows consumer tech industries — commercial technologies are becoming more open and supporting more interoperability. Breaking down data silos benefits technology vendors, food producers, and retailers by creating an ecosystem that enables traceability and easy access to food safety data. 

An essential component of open platforms is the participation of vendors in adhering to common standards. Shared, documented languages enable speed in communication, and ultimately traceability. Open platforms also leave a record of handshakes between different parties, creating a digital trail of transparency. A regulatory environment where increased traceability is required will benefit industry sectors that embrace openness, integration, and interoperability. 

Increased Traceability Needed for 2023 and Beyond 

When there's an illness or outbreak, the FDA needs to be able to trace it to which farm, factory or production facility it came from so production can be shut down and the problem can be analyzed, and ultimately rectified. Sometimes, the obstacle to traceability comes from malignant activities, such as truck drivers turning off refrigeration during transport or even growing incidents of inventory theft from trucks , which creates an additional roadblock to FSMA’s requirement of proof of temperature maintenance for the entirety of the shipment’s journey . However, more often than not, there’s simply a lack of accessibility to the digital trail that reveals where foodborne illness originated on the supply chain—a problem that may be solved by greater use of digitalization of record keeping. 

The intersection of blockchain and traditional commerce is still an evolving phenomenon. Full transparency is inherent within public blockchains, and enterprises — national retailers for example — need to keep some of the information about their inventory private. No large grocery retailer wants the price point they buy their bananas or beans available for anyone to see. Private blockchains may help, or some hybrid model with architecture that enables specific variables to be hidden, even when hosted on a public cloud. This level of transparency could hide pricing information but still make critical food safety data, like temperature readings, available for public use. 

Even with these challenges, automation of record keeping with increased transparency will be an area of opportunity for retailers going forward. Early adopters will continue to leverage digital processes for traceability technology. The progress they will see in 2023 will help others become more proactive in their food safety and waste reduction processes while speeding up organizational reaction times when food safety incidents occur.