FDA Hosts Virtual Meeting on Tracking Food by the Lot Number
Published Date: 5/28/2026
Notice
Summary
The FDA is hosting a virtual meeting on June 15, 2026, to talk about how to better track food by its lot number, making food safer and easier to trace. This affects food producers, sellers, and anyone involved in food safety, with a chance to suggest flexible ways to follow the rules. Comments on the ideas are open until July 15, 2026, so get involved and help shape the future of food tracking!
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Faster Recalls and Fewer Foodborne Illnesses
FDA states that lot-level tracking enables rapid tracing of contaminated foods during recalls, allowing the Agency to find sources faster, narrow recall scope, and remove affected products quickly, which results in fewer foodborne illnesses and deaths.
Enforcement Pause Through July 20, 2028
Congress directed FDA not to enforce the Food Traceability Rule prior to July 20, 2028 (Continuing Appropriations Act, Pub. L. 119-37). The original compliance date had been January 20, 2026 and FDA had proposed extending compliance to July 20, 2028.
Lot-Level Tracking Recordkeeping Requirement
The Food Traceability Rule requires businesses that manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods on FDA's Food Traceability List to assign unique Traceability Lot Codes that must be passed along unchanged (unless transformed) and to record Key Data Elements (KDEs) when performing Critical Tracking Events (CTEs) such as initial packing, transformation, and shipping.
FDA Stakeholder Meeting and Comment Opportunity
FDA will hold a virtual public meeting on June 15, 2026 (12:00-3:30 p.m. ET) to discuss lot-level traceability; registration is open until June 14, 2026 and speakers must register by June 5, 2026. Electronic or written comments on the meeting or the discussion paper are due by July 15, 2026 (comments accepted via https://www.regulations.gov until 11:59 p.m. ET on July 15, 2026).
Congressional Directive for Quarterly Engagement and 180‑Day Recommendations
Section 780 of the Continuing Appropriations Act directed FDA to engage quarterly with regulated entities to identify and implement, as appropriate, additional flexibilities for satisfying the Rule’s lot-level tracking requirement and said FDA should provide industry stakeholders with recommendations within 180 days of the Act's enactment.
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