Food lot traceability and recall
Know where every lot went before anyone asks.
MaintenanceIQ food lot traceability links every ingredient lot to the finished lots it went into, and every finished lot to where it was sent, with trace back, trace forward, mass balance and a one-click mock recall. It helps your food safety and quality head answer a recall question with the chain already traced, and prove it with drills.
Recall drill · Food safety head · Illustrative
A supplier calls about a lot. You already know where it went.
An illustrative afternoon. A supplier tells your food safety head that one lot of an ingredient may be affected. In MaintenanceIQ they open that supplier lot and traces it forward: the production runs that consumed it, the finished lots they produced, and the destinations those lots were sent to. Mass balance shows that what came in matches what was used, wasted and still held in stock. They generate a mock recall PDF for the file.
The same week, a gasket supplier flags a lot of food-grade gaskets. Because spares are lot-traced too, they can see that one gasket from that lot was fitted to pump P-07 on the sauce line during the bearing change, and the maintenance team plans the swap.
The supplier, the lots and pump P-07 are illustrative. The trace, the mass balance and the PDF are the real product.
- Trace back and trace forward from any lot
- Mass balance against stock, use and waste
- A one-click mock recall PDF
Genealogy
From ingredient lot to finished lot, with the chain intact.
A trace is only as good as the records it runs on. MaintenanceIQ keeps a material master for your ingredients, with lots that carry the supplier lot number, expiry date and certificate of analysis, and a stock ledger where every movement is recorded in full or not at all.
A lightweight, versioned recipe or bill of materials sets what goes into each product, and rolls up the declared allergens from its ingredients. Production runs consume ingredient lots first-expiry-first-out, record the CCP checks inline, capture yield and variance, and produce a finished lot. Once a run is completed it cannot be changed. Each finished lot then carries its disposition.
- Ingredient lots with supplier lot, expiry and CoA
- Versioned recipes with a declared-allergen roll-up
- Production runs with FEFO consumption, CCP checks, yield and variance
- Finished lots with dispositions, frozen on completion
Checking mass balance on one ingredient lot
Worked example (illustrative)
An ingredient lot of 1,000 kg was received. Your team wants to show that every kilogram is accounted for.
| Where it went | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Consumed in production runs | 820 kg |
| Recorded as waste | 40 kg |
| Still in stock | 140 kg |
| Total accounted for | 820 + 40 + 140 = 1,000 kg |
Received 1,000 kg, accounted for 1,000 kg, so the lot reconciles. If the total fell short, mass balance would show the gap to investigate. The quantities are examples.
Recall drills
Practice the recall before you need it.
The time to find a weak link in your traceability is during a drill, not a real recall. MaintenanceIQ runs a recall drill in one click and logs how long the trace took and a recall-effectiveness percentage, so each drill becomes evidence you can show an auditor.
The traceability records also feed the FSSC 22000 evidence pack as section 13, lot traceability and recall, covering genealogy coverage, mass balance reconciliation, recall destinations and production CCP checks.
- One-click recall drills
- Time-to-trace and recall effectiveness logged
- Mock recall PDF on demand
- Section 13 of the FSSC 22000 evidence pack
Incoming material
Control what comes through the door.
A clean trace starts with clean intake. These controls cover the suppliers and lots you depend on.
Supplier qualification
Each supplier carries an approval status and a periodic re-assessment, so a lapsed review is visible on the supplier, not buried in a file.
How: Approval status and review dates
Supplier scorecards
A transparent score from 0 to 100 per supplier, built from approval status, CoA coverage and lot quality, minus penalties for an overdue review or an expired CoA. Suppliers are ranked by risk.
How: Scorecards feed FSSC supplier qualification
CoA validity
Certificates of analysis are tracked on incoming lots, so an expired certificate is caught at intake rather than at audit.
How: CoA tracking per lot
Maintenance materials
Lubricants and gaskets are part of the chain too.
In a food plant, the materials your maintenance team installs can touch the product. Maintenance-material part lots extend lot tracing to spares, so you can see which lot of food-grade lubricant or gasket is installed on which food-contact asset. When a supplier raises a concern, your maintenance team knows exactly which machines to visit.
Frequently asked questions
Is lot traceability included in Core CMMS?
No. It is part of the Food Production package, and users need the traceability permission to use it.
What is a mock recall in MaintenanceIQ?
A one-click report, as a PDF, that traces an affected lot through production to its destinations. Recall drills also log how long the trace took and a recall-effectiveness percentage as audit evidence.
Does it replace our ERP or production planning system?
No. It is the traceability engine: ingredient lots, recipes, production runs, finished lots, dispositions and recall. It is not production planning, MRP or sales.
Can it trace maintenance parts as well as ingredients?
Yes. Maintenance-material part lots record which lot of a food-grade lubricant or gasket is installed on which food-contact asset.