Quick answer
Keep records that identify your food suppliers, the products received and the food businesses you supply. Preserve product and batch identity through handling, and make the information retrievable when needed. Retailers and caterers generally do not need one-step-forward traceability records for individual final consumers, but business-customer supply and product-specific rules still apply.
Traceability makes a targeted response possible
If an ingredient is affected by an incident, the business needs to find where it came from, where it went and which food may be involved.
The official traceability quick guide explains one step back and one step forward. Current management guidance sets out practical records and the need for them to be available.
Keep useful supplier and supply records
| Record area | Useful information |
|---|---|
| Supplier | Business name, address and usable contact route. |
| Product | Clear description and quantity. |
| Transaction/delivery | Relevant dates and supporting invoice/receipt. |
| Product/batch identity | Lot, batch, date or other identifying information available. |
| Business customer | Business identity and details of food supplied. |
| Internal handling | Links between received ingredients, production batches and dispatch where needed. |
| Retrieval | Where records are kept and who can retrieve them. |
Check who receives the food
The quick guide distinguishes final consumers from business customers. Selling a meal directly to an individual is different from supplying another food business.
Check specific requirements for products such as food of animal origin and sprouted seeds. Do not assume that one generic invoice arrangement satisfies every sector’s additional information duties.
Connect traceability with the food-safety system
Keep supplier and batch identity when food is decanted or relabelled. Where appropriate, link ingredient lots with production, preparation and dispatch records so an incident can be scoped accurately.
This supports the food-safety system and its withdrawal/recall procedure. A cooking record may identify a process but still need a link to the ingredient batch; preserve the information that makes the complete route understandable.
Worked example: one ingredient lot enters two batches
Hypothetical example: ingredient lot A17 is used in production batches B3 and B4. The records connect the supplier delivery, both production batches and the business customers supplied.
If A17 is implicated in an incident, the team can retrieve those links. Where the records cannot reliably narrow the affected food, work with the authority on the appropriate scope rather than assume an unrecorded batch is unaffected.
Test retrieval and set suitable retention
Choose a real product and test whether staff can retrieve its supplier, identifying details and relevant business-customer records. Include access when the usual administrator is absent.
Current FSA guidance says the general traceability provision does not specify one retention period, though sector-specific law may do so. Set an appropriate policy for the food and requirements; do not copy a universal “keep everything for X months” rule.
Next steps
Test one product from receipt through handling to business supply. Use the delivery-check procedure and the official withdrawal/recall guidance to close missing links.
Read the official traceability quick guide — Check one-step-back/forward scope and connect records to the recall procedure.