Global Food Traceability Center’s Blake Harris to Share Traceability Best Practices During GS1 Webinar Series

CHICAGO — The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a nonprofit scientific organization committed to advancing the science of food and its application across the global food system, announced that Blake Harris, technical director at IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center, will be a featured speaker as part of GS1’s webinar series, Back to Basics for Supply Chain Visibility. Harris, one of the world’s leading food traceability experts, will participate in part two of the three-part webinar series on Wednesday, Aug. 14, from 2-3 p.m. ET.

During the session, “What Best Practices Developed by Industry for Industry Can Do for You,” Harris will share guidance on tools and resources to help companies comply with traceability best practices. The session will also cover education and training options in addition to opportunities to participate in industry discussions.

The webinar series hosted by GS1 is designed for supply chain functional experts and business leaders who handle regulatory compliance, quality assurance, food safety, traceability, master data and inventory management and barcoding. Best known as a source for UPC barcodes, GS1 is a not-for-profit, global data standards organization that creates a common language for companies to identify, capture and share trusted data that links their physical and digital supply chains.

“The upcoming implementation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Traceability Rule is complex and will have far-reaching impacts across the supply chains for many food and beverage companies,” said Harris. “This webinar series is a vital part to not only understanding those impacts, but discovering what traceability best practices they can incorporate to increase the efficiency, resilience, and effectiveness of their supply chain.”

To register for the webinar, click here.

Compliance with the FDA’s Food Traceability Rule is only 18 months away, and IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center has developed a series of resources to help companies in compliance. This includes recently launching an Enterprise Traceability Education Suite that empowers organizations to train their employees on key traceability concepts, prepares them for incoming regulations and helps mitigate the risk of recalls. From a basic awareness of food traceability principles to detailed guides on how to design, implement, evaluate and enhance an organization’s traceability system, these self-paced courses are thoughtfully designed to educate professionals across all levels and business areas. The educational courses are designed to offer an efficient and affordable solution to help with compliance to the FDA’s Food Traceability Rule.

Last year, the Global Food Traceability Center created a report for the FDA based on 90 submissions from teams that participated in the FDA’s 2021 Low- or No-Cost Tech-Enabled Traceability Challenge. The report contributes to ongoing industry discussions about the role of technology in traceability and provide high-level recommendations to key stakeholders on advancing the tech-enabled traceability landscape. Harris joined Adam Friedlander, policy analyst at the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, on IFT’s Omnivore podcast recently, where they discussed how companies can prepare themselves and their supply chains for Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) 204 compliance.

To learn more about IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center and the various educational tools available to aid in FSMA 204 compliance, click here or visit ift.org/gftc.