Consultancy provides traceability expertise

Traceability and food safety solutions provider iFoodDS has launched New Era Partners, a consulting arm to advise firms on compliance with Food Safety Modernization Act traceability requirements.

The Food and Drug Administration mandates new recordkeeping requirements for certain foods through Section 204 of the FSMA. Firms that manufacture, process, pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List, including leafy greens and other produce, must follow the new requirements.

Andrew Kennedy, a former FDA traceability expert who helped develop FSMA 204, and Matt Regusci, a co-founder of Azzule|PrimusGFS, will co-lead New Era Partners.

“FSMA 204 is complex, especially for grocers, foodservice operators, and processors,” Kennedy, principal traceability advisor at New Era Partners, said in a news release. “With our deep understanding of the rule and the supply chain, New Era Partners can quickly help enterprises understand the rule’s impact on their operations and objectively identify paths to compliance. Progressive enterprises that start planning now will protect their brand and gain a competitive advantage.”

Services include executive briefings for enterprise operations, information technology and access to legal executives on the rule and its impacts. New Era Partners also offers a service called Supply Chain Traceability X-Ray, an analysis of a company’s current compliance status and visualization of gaps across their supply chain, enabling accurate risk assessment and compliance effort scope.

Kennedy will lead advisory services. He is a former co-leader of FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety, Core Element 1: Tech-Enabled Traceability, a food traceability expert and FSMA 204 working group team member. Kennedy was the interim director of the Institute of Food Technologist’s Global Food Traceability Center and he co-founded FoodLogiQ. He co-led the development of numerous food traceability standards and best practices.

Regusci will lead compliance services. He is one of the leading entrepreneurs in the Testing, Inspection, and Compliance (TIC) marketplace. Over the past decade, he co-founded Azzule|PrimusGFS, co-owned WQS, and co-founded TrainToComply.

“The industry is making progress on the promise of traceability, but organizations across the supply chain need guidance on how FSMA 204 impacts their unique operations and how they can leverage traceability to improve their business practices,” Robert Whitaker, Founder of Whitaker Consulting, said in the release. “Andrew Kennedy and Matt Regusci’s expertise are unmatched in the industry and will be of great value to enterprises needing a strategy to meet the FSMA 204 mandate and move their businesses forward.”