Q and A- Acheson on industry traceabiity

One reporter (I didn't catch the name) at today's briefing (Main message: the outbreak is over) asked a question about industry traceback and what is needed. Should there be better record keeping requirements and Good Manufacturing recommendations?

David Acheson of FDA responds:

"The traceback requirements are complex, as you point out, we are exploring various options. The agency is planning a public meeting in the fall - October or November time frame - to consult further with the stakeholders and those who are interested in this.

I want to emphasize that during the traceback ... it was a question of the agency was going to industry establishments and obtaining records. Rarely were those records not available. That was not the problem. It was that the records were frequently maintained as paper records and weren't electronic. Not that all the industry is like that. Certainly elements of the industry maintaining electronic records, but the vast majority of the establishments we went to in this investigation weren't. That's why things like interoperability, so that one part of the chain connects to the next, consistency of naming so that as, for example, tomatoes move through the system they don't change their name, which was something we had to deal with. Those are the types of things we are looking for, a multifaceted approach around traceback."