Templates and records · IFS Food · Clause 4.18

IFS Food traceability test: record and example

The test that shows that, starting from any batch, the company can find its raw materials, packaging and customers, and make the quantities reconcile.

In one sentence

In IFS Food the traceability test is the documented exercise, carried out at least once a year, that starts from a batch and traces it backwards — raw materials, food-contact packaging, process — and forwards — customers and quantities — with a mass balance that reconciles, because clause 4.18 of the standard is one of its KO requirements.

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Where the standard requires it: IFS Food · Clause 4.18 Clause references follow the numbering of IFS Food Version 8. Where a record underpins a KO requirement, its sheet says so.
Type of information: Mandatory record IFS Food KO requirement (4.18)
Who fills it in: Quality, with logistics and production Led by quality; the result is reviewed by top management or the crisis team
When: At least once a year It is worth varying the product, the direction and the time of year; also after changes to the batch coding system
How long it is kept: Shelf life plus one year, at least IFS Food requires records to be kept in line with legislation and for at least one year after the specified shelf life; if the product has none, the period must be justified (2.1.2).

What the standard requires

What IFS Food demands and what it leaves to your judgement

IFS requires a traceability system that identifies product batches and their relationship with batches of raw materials and food-contact packaging through every stage, rework included. Traceability must be tested periodically, at least once a year, and the results recorded.

The auditor usually asks for a live test during the visit. What they look for is that the information comes out complete, that the quantities reconcile and that it is obtained in a time reasonable for a real recall.

The legal minimum in the EU — one step back, one step forward — is in Article 18 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002; IFS goes further by requiring internal traceability between batches. BRCGS also sets a maximum time to complete it.

Read it in context: Food safety and quality management system, in the IFS Food Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Date, start time and finish time
Starting product and batch, and direction of the test
Raw materials and food-contact packaging identified, with their batches and suppliers
Internal steps and rework involved
Customers, delivery dates and quantities dispatched
Mass balance: produced, dispatched, in stock, losses
Documents consulted
Deviations found and actions
Conclusion and who signs it

Example

Example: backward and forward test at a fictitious cannery

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Date	22 April 2026 · start 09:10 · finish 10:35
Starting batch	Crushed tomatoes 400 g · batch TT-26-108 · 12,000 cans
Backward	Tomatoes from 3 growers (batches R-0411 to R-0413) · salt batch S-221 · cans batch L-3390
Rework	None in that batch
Forward	4 customers · 11,400 cans dispatched between 23 and 30 April
Mass balance	12,000 produced = 11,400 dispatched + 552 in the warehouse + 48 samples and losses
Deviation	One customer's delivery note was found late because it existed only on paper
Action	Digitise own-fleet delivery notes · logistics manager · June

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

A test that only goes forward and never identifies the food-contact packaging.
A mass balance that does not reconcile and is accepted without explanation.
The same simple product is always tested.
Rework breaks traceability and there is no record of which batches were mixed.
The time taken is not noted, which is exactly what matters in a real recall.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Batches are linked from raw material to delivery, consuming ERP data where the ERP owns the batch.
2Backward and forward queries return raw materials, packaging and customers in minutes.
3The test result, with its start and finish times and the balance, is kept as a signed record.
4Deviations found are opened as actions with an owner and a deadline.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

How quickly must the test be completed under IFS?

IFS requires the information to be available within a time adequate for managing a recall; many companies set themselves an internal target of a few hours. BRCGS, by contrast, sets an explicit maximum time.

What is a mass balance?

The check that the quantity produced matches the sum of what was dispatched, what remains in the warehouse and losses or samples. If it does not reconcile, there is product whose whereabouts are unknown.

Does a mock recall count as a traceability test?

They can be done together, but they are not the same: the traceability test shows the information can be found; the mock recall shows the organisation knows how to act on it, notify and recover the product.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

IFS Food Version 8 — Standard for auditing product and process compliance in relation to food safety and quality IFS Management GmbH · Version 8, April 2023
Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law (Articles 18 and 19) EUR-Lex · 28 January 2002