---
id: KB-CS-007
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/food-and-beverage/food-supplier-traceability
idioma: en
categoria: sector-alimentacion
subcategoria: distribucion
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CS-001, KB-CF-003, KB-AL-016]
citadoPor: [KB-IC-002, KB-NO-004, KB-CS-018, KB-AL-001, KB-AL-006]
---

# Food supplier traceability

_Being able to say within an hour where each batch came from and under which certificates._

**Responde a:** food supplier traceability · supplier health certificates · ifs brc audit documentation · product recall traceability

In food the question always arrives the same way and always in a hurry: where did this batch come from and what certificates did that supplier hold that day. Answering in an hour rather than two days is the difference between a targeted recall and a general one.

**En corto**

- What matters is what was valid on the batch date, not today.
- Sector certificates expire, and with them the validity of what they covered.
- A history with trusted dates answers by itself; a filing cabinet does not.

## What you must be able to show

| Question | What answers it |
| --- | --- |
| Who supplied this batch? | The supplier's case, with its date |
| Were they approved that day? | The history, not the current status |
| Which certificates did they hold? | The documents valid on that date |
| When did they expire? | The recorded expiry dates |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The question is always in the past tense. A system that only reports today's status is no use in a recall: you must be able to say what was true on 14 March.

## For sector audits

Food certification schemes ask for exactly this: dated documentary evidence that each supplier was approved when they supplied. It is the same thing a recall needs, so it is built once and serves both.

> [!NOTE]
> Marking health certificates with their expiry turns approval from an annual snapshot into a status that is maintained.

**Can it be queried by batch?**

If the batch is linked to the supplier's case, yes.

**What about my suppliers' suppliers?**

Requested as documentation inside your direct supplier's case.

**How long must it be kept?**

Whatever your certification requires; set in the retention policy.

## Ejemplos

**A packer receives a health alert about a raw material.**

- Locates the batch's supplier
- Checks which certificates were valid on that day

→ Narrows the recall to two batches instead of a month's production.

**A client asks for a batch's origin and it takes two days.**

- Checks the batch's file

→ The answer comes out in minutes.

**A supplier's certificate expired and their product is still in stock.**

- Records validity on receiving each certificate

→ The warning arrives before the material is used.

**The trace breaks between goods-in and production.**

- Ties the received consignment to the batch produced

→ The backward journey is complete.

**Each person keeps their own suppliers' certificates.**

- Gathers everything in one place

→ The answer does not depend on who is in.

**Customers who received a batch have to be warned.**

- Checks what went out of that batch and to whom

→ Those affected are warned rather than the whole base.