Barcode as Data Bridge: New Partnership Aims to Simplify Food Safety Compliance

SEATTLE and KENNESAW, Ga. – May 28, 2026 – A new partnership between food safety software provider iFoodDS and marking technology leader Markem-Imaje is set to transform how the food industry handles traceability, offering a streamlined path to compliance for suppliers struggling with complex federal regulations. The collaboration introduces a system where a simple barcode on a case becomes a powerful “data bridge,” automating the capture of critical safety information and significantly lowering the barrier to entry for small and mid-sized businesses.

This initiative directly targets the challenges of the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Section 204, a sweeping regulation designed to create a safer, more transparent food supply chain. By integrating Markem-Imaje’s CoLOS® labeling software with the iFoodDS Trace Exchange™ platform, the partners aim to replace error-prone manual data entry with an automated, standardized workflow, turning a regulatory burden into a streamlined operational process.

The Looming Challenge of FSMA 204

FSMA 204, also known as the Food Traceability Rule, represents one of the most significant regulatory shifts for the food industry in decades. Its core mission is to enable rapid identification and removal of contaminated food from the market during an outbreak, thereby reducing foodborne illnesses. To achieve this, the rule mandates extensive record-keeping for specific high-risk foods on the FDA’s Food Traceability List (FTL), which includes items like leafy greens, fresh-cut produce, soft cheeses, and certain types of seafood.

Under the rule, companies that handle these foods must capture and maintain specific Key Data Elements (KDEs)—such as traceability lot codes, product descriptions, and location data—at various Critical Tracking Events (CTEs) like harvesting, shipping, and receiving. Furthermore, they must be able to provide this data to the FDA in a sortable electronic spreadsheet within 24 hours of a request. While the FDA recently extended the compliance deadline to July 2028 to give the industry more time to prepare, many major retailers and foodservice operators are pushing their suppliers for compliance on accelerated timelines, making traceability a non-negotiable cost of doing business.

For many small to mid-sized suppliers, these requirements present a formidable challenge. Lacking dedicated IT departments and sophisticated enterprise software, they often rely on paper records or disparate spreadsheets. The prospect of investing in complex systems, training staff, and ensuring seamless data exchange with all trading partners is a significant financial and logistical hurdle. Manual data entry remains a widespread practice, a process notoriously prone to errors that can compromise the integrity of the entire traceability chain.

A “Data Bridge” from Physical to Digital

The partnership between iFoodDS and Markem-Imaje tackles these challenges head-on by creating an elegant, integrated solution that connects the physical world of production with the digital world of data management. The system is built on a simple yet powerful concept: transforming the GS1-compliant barcode printed on every product case into a digital data conduit.

Here’s how the workflow is designed to function: iFoodDS provides standardized, FSMA-aligned label templates through its Trace Exchange™ platform. These templates remove ambiguity by pre-defining the necessary data fields and embedding the logic for GS1 standards. A supplier then uses these templates within Markem-Imaje’s CoLOS® software, which drives their on-site printers to create and apply a unique, compliant label to each case of food.

This label contains a barcode that encodes all the required KDEs—the traceability lot code, location information, product identifiers, and more. Today, this ensures a standardized format for data capture. The next step, a planned software integration, will fully automate the process. Data generated during the label creation process in CoLOS® will be automatically captured and shared with the iFoodDS Trace Exchange™ platform, creating a digital traceability record without a single manual keystroke.

“Suppliers shouldn't need enterprise IT projects to comply with FSMA 204,” said Andrew Kennedy, Chief Traceability Officer at iFoodDS. “By making FSMA-aligned labels readily accessible today and automatically capturing KDEs when the CoLOS® integration comes online, we're giving suppliers a practical, low‑lift path to share traceability data with every customer — without forcing complex integrations on day one.”

Lowering Barriers for Widespread Adoption

By focusing on simplicity and automation, the partnership aims to democratize traceability compliance. The solution is engineered to dismantle the most common barriers that prevent smaller suppliers from adopting modern food safety technology. Key benefits include instant access to compliant labels, which improves consistency and accuracy across the entire supply chain.

Crucially, the system does not require an expensive, time-consuming ERP integration to get started. Suppliers can begin using the standardized labels immediately and share traceability data with their customers through the iFoodDS Trace Exchange™, a single platform that eliminates the cost and complexity of managing multiple, disparate customer connections. This approach allows businesses to participate in advanced traceability programs using the labeling tools and processes they already rely on.

Stephen Gryczka, Strategy and Corporate Development Director at Markem-Imaje, highlighted the value of leveraging existing infrastructure. “We're excited to be integrating CoLOS® with the iFoodDS Trace Exchange™ platform to help food suppliers leverage existing labeling infrastructure to comply with FSMA 204 traceability requirements,” he stated. “Using CoLOS®, food suppliers will be able to automate the capture and connect printed key data elements (KDEs) to iFoodDS Trace Exchange™ systems simplifying compliance across the supply chain with an efficient, scalable, and fully supported solution.”

This transformation of labeling from a mere customer requirement into a structured workflow for data capture and sharing eliminates duplicate effort, reduces costly errors, and empowers suppliers to meet modern food safety standards without a massive capital investment. As the industry moves from uncertainty to execution on FSMA 204, this scalable, standards-based approach provides a clear and practical path forward for businesses of all sizes and technical maturity levels.