In 2025, traceability is no longer a value-added feature—it’s a critical requirement for the global food industry. With increased consumer demand for transparency, more stringent ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) reporting obligations, and a rising number of food recalls, the pressure is on for food businesses to implement robust, future-ready traceability systems.
Regulatory bodies around the world are tightening requirements to protect public health, reduce the risks of food fraud, and ensure accountability across increasingly complex supply chains. At the same time, global brands and retailers are demanding more data—and faster.
This article serves as a practical guide for food manufacturers, processors, distributors, retailers, and compliance professionals. Whether you're building a new traceability system or upgrading an existing one, we’ll walk you through the key concepts, tools, and best practices that define traceability success in 2025.
Traceability in the food sector refers to the ability to track any food item, ingredient, or packaging material throughout every stage of production, processing, and distribution. It plays a fundamental role in food safety, quality control, and regulatory compliance.
Effective traceability throughout the supply chain enables companies to quickly identify and remove unsafe products, protect consumers, prevent fraud, and minimise the scale and cost of product recalls. It also provides evidence to back up ethical sourcing and sustainability claims—issues that are increasingly influencing consumer choices and business procurement policies.
Since 2023, the role of traceability has evolved rapidly. Businesses are expected to move beyond basic batch tracking towards implementing digitised systems that can integrate with real-time supply chain data, helping to ensure food integrity and resilience in a volatile market.
A comprehensive food traceability system must track movement in two directions:
Together, forward and backward traceability provide the foundation for rapid, accurate responses to safety issues and non-conformances. They also support key functions such as allergen management, origin verification, and compliance with local and international regulations, policy and standards.
Traceability systems in food manufacturing track the journey of ingredients and products through every stage of the supply chain—from sourcing and production to distribution and sale. By capturing key data points at each step, these systems enable manufacturers to identify the origin of raw materials, monitor processing conditions, and trace products in real time. This transparency supports food safety, simplifies recall processes, and ensures compliance with industry regulations while building trust with retailers and consumers alike. Modern systems include:
Each stage—ingredient intake, processing, batching, packing, storage, dispatch, and delivery—is tracked. In the event of a recall or audit, this enables manufacturers to pinpoint where a product has been and what ingredients or processes were involved.
A strong traceability system delivers measurable benefits:
Regulatory requirements for traceability vary globally, but the trend is towards digitisation and harmonisation. Key frameworks in 2025 include:
The regulatory direction is clear: food businesses must adopt scalable, interoperable, and real-time traceability solutions or risk falling behind.
An effective traceability system should include a clear record of every step from intake to dispatch:
Implementing this framework ensures full traceability from farm to fork and supports rapid investigation when issues arise.
Mass balance refers to accounting for the total weight or volume of materials received and used in production. It ensures inputs, outputs, waste, and remaining stock add up.
A simple example: if you receive 1,000kg of oats, your traceability system should show:
Mass balance exercises are a core requirement of standards such as BRCGS and Red Tractor. They ensure traceability records are accurate, complete, and verifiable—especially during audits or product withdrawals.
The frequency of traceability checks depends on your business and the standards you’re working to:
However, it is important to note that food business operators are expected to regularly stress test the integrity of their traceability systems, with customers often requesting mock traceability and recall exercises ad hoc. These exercises should include mass balance, trace-back and trace-forward tests, and mock recalls. A risk-based approach helps tailor the frequency based on product category, volume, and market exposure.
Traceability directly supports your HACCP plan by:
Traceability and HACCP work together to minimise risk, demonstrate compliance, and protect consumers. Most certification bodies require full integration between the two.
As the food industry evolves, traceability must keep pace. A modern, future-ready traceability system should be:
Food businesses that invest in traceability now will be better equipped to navigate regulatory change, protect their brands, and meet customer expectations for transparency and safety.
Want to assess your traceability systems?
Explore Foods Connected’s food traceability software or book a demo to see how we help food businesses build transparency from the ground up.