FDA Announces Winners of Food Traceability Challenge

The challenge, which was launched in June, is part of a goal set forth in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint to encourage the development of creative financial models for low- to no-cost traceability solutions that would enable food producers of all sizes to participate in a scalable, cost-effective way.

FDA New Era of Smarter Food Safety logo
FDA New Era of Smarter Food Safety logo
FDA

Posted by Posted by Jason Brill

Published September 17, 2021

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has announced the winners of its New Era of Smarter Food Safety Low- or No-Cost Tech-enabled Traceability Challenge. The challenge is part of a goal set forth in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint to encourage the development of creative financial models for low- to no-cost traceability solutions that would enable food producers of all sizes to participate in a scalable, cost-effective way. Tech-enabled traceability is one of the foundational core elements of the FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative, the agency said.

The winning teams are FarmTabs, Freshly, HeavyConnect, ItemChain, Kezzler, Mojix, OpsSmart, Precise, Roambee/GSM/Wiliot’s, Rfider, TagOne and Wholechain. FDA will host a webinar Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 11 a.m. ET for the winning teams to present their solutions and take questions during a live Q&A session.

“In June, we launched the New Era of Smarter Food Safety Low- or No-Cost Tech-enabled Traceability Challenge to encourage the development of traceability solutions that are cost effective for human and animal food operations of all sizes," said Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for food policy and response. "Achieving end-to-end traceability — the ability to track a food’s route from source to table — throughout the food supply system can help speed the response to foodborne illness outbreaks and deepen our understanding of what causes them and how to prevent them from happening again.

"Today, I’m excited to announce that we have chosen 12 winners representing the U.S., Canada and New Zealand from the 90 submissions we received from all over the world. Winning submissions for this challenge are high-quality, impactful, cover a considerable range of use cases and use a variety of approaches, platforms and technical designs.

"This is so important because the cost of such technologies can be a barrier to adopting tech-enabled traceability systems. To achieve end-to-end food traceability throughout the food supply system, accessible solutions are needed that are affordable and can scale to encourage widespread adoption.
 
As illustrated through this initiative, the FDA is committed to and will continue to do its part to help ensure that companies of all sizes, including small to midsize ones, can use and benefit from new tracing technologies. Digitizing food data at no- or low-cost through the use of creative economic models and innovative solutions allows the entire food system to get smarter together.”

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