Trace Back

What is Trace Back?

Trace back refers to any means of tracing raw materials or ingredients in a product back to their places of origin. In the produce industry, for example, if a box of shredded lettuce were produced and packed under a trace back program, your distributor could trace back the head lettuce to a specific grower-shipper, packing house—even the field of origin. In the event the shredded lettuce was suspected in a case of foodborne illness, all other products sourced from the same origin could thus be readily identified and withdrawn from the market.