What is food traceability?

In catering, as anywhere in the food chain, food traceability is the ability to follow the trail of a food, an ingredient or a batch through all stages of production, processing and distribution. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, which lays down the general principles of food law, requires it in Article 18: food businesses must be able to identify who has supplied them with a food or an ingredient and which businesses they have supplied their products to (one step back and one step forward).

What it is for

• Locating and withdrawing a batch when a safety problem is detected.
• Knowing where each ingredient comes from when someone has a question.
• Containing an incident instead of throwing everything away.

How it applies in catering

In practice it means keeping delivery notes and invoices from suppliers, identifying batches of raw materials, labelling dishes with the date they were made and keeping records. It is underpinned by the HACCP system and the cold chain. It is also the basis of reliable information on allergens: if you do not know what an ingredient contains, you cannot declare it.

Traceability and waste

Knowing what has been prepared, how much and when helps you fine-tune quantities and reduce food waste.

How we can help

If your company needs to know where the food it is served comes from, tell us what you need and see our corporate catering in Madrid.

Related service: Corporate catering

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