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Traceability requirements under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

Traceability is the ability to track the movement of a food product, one step forward and one step back in the supply chain. In this video, we look at how a business would create traceability records.

Traceability requirements under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations – Transcript

[Anna's pasta sauce factory is in front of a mountainous landscape. A truck leaves the factory.]

[A map of Canada appears, illustrating how Anna's products travel from British Columbia to Saskatchewan]

Anna owns a pasta sauce business. Because Anna sells her product across provincial boundaries, she needs to keep traceability documents under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

[Text on screen: Traceability documents]

[Text on screen: Safe Food for Canadians Regulations]

[Jars of pasta sauce are labelled by a machine on a conveyor belt. An arrow points to the left at tomato plants on a farm. Another arrow points to the right at a retail worker placing jars of pasta sauce on a store shelf.]

This means Anna needs to identify and document the pasta sauce she is making; trace back the ingredients she used; and trace the pasta sauce forward to the businesses she sold it to.

[Text on screen: Identify & document]

[A jar of pasta sauce appears on the left with a picture of a tomato and "Garlic and Basil Pasta Sauce" displayed on the label. It changes to show a headshot of Anna, a barcode and LOT 55359 on the back.]

[A tablet appears on the right with "Anna's Pasta Sauce," "Name: Garlic and Basil Pasta Sauce," "Lot Code: LOT 55359," and "Manufactured: Anna's Pasta Sauce Ltd., 355 Smythe Rd., Vancouver, BC" typed on the screen.]

To identify the pasta sauce, Anna needs to document:

  • its common name
  • a lot code or unique identifier that she creates; and
  • the name and address of the location she makes the pasta sauce

[A small picture of Anna's pasta sauce factory in front of a mountainous landscape appears in place of the jar of pasta sauce.]

[Text on screen: Trace back]

[A tomato, garlic and basil leaves appear on the left of the screen.]

[The tablet changes to display "Anna's Pasta Sauce," "Ingredients: Tomatoes, garlic, basil," "Source: Grower's Farm, 225 A Road, Vancouver, BC," and "Date: June 15 XXXX."]

[The background changes to a tomato farm with a windmill.]

[The background changes to a calendar with a circled date.]

To trace back the ingredients one step, Anna needs to document:

  • each ingredient she received
  • the name and address of the farm or other food business she received those ingredients from; and
  • the date she received them

[Anna stands at a selling stand with jars of pasta sauce on the counter and "Anna's Pasta Sauce" written on the front.]

[Three stores appear.]

[Text on screen: Trace forward]

[One store remains on the left of the screen. A tablet appears on the right of the screen with "Anna's Pasta Sauce," "Name: Jim's Market," "Address: 336 Main Street, Regina, SK," and "Date: July 12, XXXX."]

[A calendar appears with a circled date.]

If Anna sells directly to consumers, she does not need to trace her product forward. But if Anna sells to other businesses or locations in another province, she needs to trace her pasta sauce one step forward. She needs to document:

  • the name and address of the businesses to whom she sells her pasta sauce to; and
  • the date she sold them the pasta sauce.

[Papers and a tablet display information about Anna's Pasta Sauce and Jim's Market.]

[Text on screen: Two years]

Anna needs to keep these traceability documents for two years either as hard copy or electronically.

[A jar of pasta sauce appears with "Garlic and Basil Pasta Sauce," a tomato, a headshot of Anna, "LOT 55359," "Anna's Pasta Sauce," and "355 Smythe Rd., Vancouver BC" displayed on the label.]

[A headshot of Anna holding a jar of pasta sauce appears.]

[Text on screen: CFIA labelling requirements]

She also needs to make sure her product is labelled with the common name, the lot code or unique identifier; and her business name and the address where she makes the pasta sauce. These traceability labelling requirements are in addition to other Canadian Food Inspection Agency labelling requirements.

[Text on screen: For more information: inspection.gc.ca/SafeFood]

For more information about the Safe Food for Canadian Regulations and keeping a traceability record, visit inspection.gc.ca/SafeFood.

[End of video]

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