The European Union has announced new regulatory requirements for the food and drink industry, obligating them to track and record all food from "farm to fork".
The legislation means every business in the food and drinks trade must keep detailed records of every delivery of goods from suppliers, and every delivery on to a customer. These records must then be stored for up to five years.
The requirements for Article 18 of the General Food Law affect all companies and individuals, including private catering companies and pub chefs. The laws came into effect on January 1 this year. According to the Food Standards Agency most restaurants and hotels need only use the same paper-based system to record supply that they use for tax purposes.
On Monday the Commission agreed ways to ensure "harmonised implementation" across Europe. Philip Tod, a commission spokesman, said all records must be kept for five years, except for perishable products like fresh meat, in which case records should be kept for six months.
The EU plans to use the information to have standardised "traceability systems" across the EU that can be used in the case of a crisis like contamination or food poisoning to locate the source.
The laws mean that every supplier and handler of food must keep records of every delivery on a "one up and one down" basis. This means they must record the supplier above them in the chain, and the customer below them. The only exception is where the product is sold to the general public, restaurants and shops are not obliged to record the names and addresses of their customers.
Information is to be recorded in two levels depending on the size of the company. All companies must record ‘level one’ information, including name and address of supplier, the nature of products supplied, date of transaction or delivery and reciprocal information for customers.
Larger businesses must record more detailed information including the quantity or volume or products supplied, batch number, if any, and a more detailed description of the product including how it was packaged and processed.
