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Guidance

Food traceability for businesses

Updated 15 October 2026

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-traceability-for-businesses/food-traceability-for-businesses

Important

Food law in Great Britain (GB) is made up of domestic law and assimilated law. Food law in Northern Ireland (NI) is made up domestic law and EU law. For the purposes of this overview a reference to “General Food Law” is assimilated regulation 178/2002 as it applies to England and Wales and to EU regulation EC 178/2002 as it applies to NI. Where there are differences between the application of the law in England, Wales or NI, these will be highlighted.

For information on Food Law in Scotland please visit Food Standards Scotland.

What is traceability?

Traceability is the ability to track a food product and its ingredients through the supply chain from production, processing and distribution to the final point of sale. It helps businesses and regulators identify where food has come from, where it has gone, and which products may be affected during a food safety incident. This page focuses on food, but there are also specific traceability requirements for feed, food producing animals and substances intended for use in food or feed.

Why traceability matters

Traceability helps businesses demonstrate compliance with food law and protect consumers, ensuring food is safe and what it says it is by:

  • providing accountability throughout the food chain, as businesses understand who they source from and who they supply to, maintaining confidence in food placed on the market
  • helping identify food that may be unsafe
  • supporting targeted food withdrawal and recalls
  • avoiding unnecessary waste and limiting disruption to businesses during food incidents

How traceability works

Food moves through several supply chain stages before reaching the consumer, including:

  • production
  • processing
  • distribution
  • storage
  • retail and catering

Information about the food should be available at each stage to help identify where it came from and where it was sent on to. Food placed on the market must be labelled or identified in a way that supports traceability.

Traceability requirements for Food Businesses

Traceability requirements apply not only to food, feed and food producing animals, but also to food contact materials and substances intended to be incorporated into food.

What businesses must do

Food businesses must have systems and procedures in place to identify their suppliers and customers. This is commonly known as the “one step back”, “one step forward” approach.

  • “one step back” - businesses must be able to identify the immediate supplier of food, ingredients or materials they receive

  • “one step forward” - businesses must be able to identify the business to which they supplied food

Businesses that sell food directly to the final consumer are generally not required to keep forward traceability records for those consumer sales. However, full traceability requirements apply to food supplied to another food business.

Keeping records

Businesses should keep sufficient records to identify:

  • supplier and customer details
  • the food product involved
  • quantities supplied or received
  • dates of delivery or dispatch
  • batch, lot or consignment code as appropriate where available

Some sectors have additional legal requirements to record batch, lot or consignment information. Businesses should ensure they comply with any sector specific traceability requirements that apply to their products.

Records must be accurate and readily available if requested by an authorised officer.

Keeping all lot, batch, or consignment codes where available is considered best practice for all businesses.

Some sectors may have additional traceability requirements, and more details are provided in the following section.

Traceability systems

Businesses can decide on their own traceability record keeping systems as there is no prescribed method in law for keeping traceability records.

Businesses can use systems such as:

  • paper based systems
  • electronic records
  • stock management systems
  • traceability software

Whatever system is used, it must enable traceability information to be provided promptly when requested.

Food withdrawals and recalls

Businesses are responsible for acting if they identify that food they have supplied may be unsafe.

Depending on the circumstances, this may involve:

  • a food withdrawal, where food is removed from the supply chain
  • a food recall, where consumers are asked to return or dispose of food already purchased

Effective traceability helps businesses identify affected products quickly, determine where they have been distributed and supports timely food withdrawal or recall action where necessary. Good traceability systems also help businesses protect consumers and their own reputations by identifying affected products quickly.

Legislation and sector specific requirements

Some sectors are subject to traceability requirements in addition to those laid down in general food law and food businesses should ensure they comply with any sector specific requirements.

Examples include:

Getting advice

If you are unsure about your traceability responsibilities, contact your local authority food safety team. They can provide advice on how food law applies to your business and what records and procedures may be appropriate for your operation.

Further information

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