FSMA 204 for deli salads: are ready-to-eat salads covered?

Yes. Refrigerated ready-to-eat deli salads are on the FDA Food Traceability List, so a company that makes them has to keep FSMA 204 traceability records unless an exemption applies. FDA’s list names egg salad, potato salad, pasta salad and seafood salad as examples. It does not include meat salads.

On timing: FDA has proposed moving the compliance date from January 20, 2026 to July 20, 2028. Congress also directed FDA not to enforce the rule before that date, and FDA says it intends to comply. Check FDA’s rule page for the current status. New to the rule? Start with FSMA 204 in plain English.

What does FDA’s list say about deli salads?

The Food Traceability List has an entry for ready-to-eat deli salads. It says the entry:

• “Includes all types of refrigerated ready-to-eat deli salads”
• Includes salads “that are frozen at some point in the supply chain prior to retail”
• Gives these examples: “egg salad, potato salad, pasta salad, and seafood salad”
• “Does not include meat salads”

So the first test is simple. Is your product a refrigerated, ready-to-eat salad that is not a meat salad? If yes, it is a listed food. The potato in a potato salad does not have to be on the list. The finished salad is.

Who in the deli salad chain has to keep records?

Anyone who makes, ships or receives the listed food, unless an exemption applies. In practice that means:

• The maker. A commissary, a kitchen or a plant that mixes the salad. Making it is a transformation event.
• The distributor or warehouse. Receiving and shipping records for each lot.
• The grocery or deli that sells it. Receiving records, unless the store qualifies for an exemption. Under 21 CFR 1.1350(c), transformation records do not apply to a retail food establishment or restaurant for foods it does not ship, such as foods it sells or sends directly to consumers.

Exemptions exist. For example, 21 CFR 1.1305 says the rule does not apply to a retail food establishment or restaurant whose average annual value of food sold or provided over the previous 3 years is no more than $250,000 on a rolling basis, adjusted for inflation from a 2020 baseline. Read the full text for your case, and ask a professional if you are unsure. See also FSMA 204 exemptions.

What does making a salad count as?

Mixing ingredients into a new food is transformation. 21 CFR 1.1310 defines transformation as manufacturing or processing a food, or changing a food (for example by commingling, repacking or relabeling), when the output is a listed food. FDA’s rule page says you must assign a traceability lot code when you transform a food.

That means each batch of salad you make gets its own traceability lot code. Our post on transformation records goes deeper, and our guide to assigning lot codes covers how to keep them clean.

1. 1Receive ingredients
2. 2Mix the batch
3. 3Assign a new lot code
4. 4Record inputs and output
5. 5Ship with the lot code

Illustrative sequence, not a required order.

What do you record for a batch?

21 CFR 1.1350 lists the transformation records. For each new lot, you keep these for the input foods that are on the list, if any:

1. The traceability lot code of the input food
2. The product description of the input food
3. The quantity and unit of measure used from each input lot

And for the salad you made:

1. The new traceability lot code
2. The location where you made it (the traceability lot code source), and a source reference if you use one
3. The date the transformation was completed
4. The product description
5. The quantity and unit of measure
6. The reference document type and number for the transformation event

The input records apply “if applicable.” Whether an ingredient is itself a listed food matters here. The list applies to foods that contain listed foods as ingredients only when the listed food remains in the same form, such as fresh, in which it appears on the list. Check each ingredient against the list. If you are not sure, ask FDA or a food safety professional.

What do you record when you receive and ship?

Receiving matters just as much, because it is where your input records come from. Under 21 CFR 1.1345, each received lot needs:

• The traceability lot code
• The quantity and unit of measure
• The product description
• The location of the immediate previous source, not counting transporters
• The location where you received the food
• The date received
• The location of the traceability lot code source, or a source reference
• The reference document type and number

When you ship the finished salad, you pass the new lot code on to the next company, as 21 CFR 1.1340 requires for shipping records. If a customer cannot tell which batch they got, the trail breaks at your door. The checklist in our key data elements guide shows the shipping elements too.

How fast do you have to answer FDA?

Fast. Under 21 CFR 1.1455, you must make records available to an authorized FDA representative within 24 hours, or within some reasonable time to which FDA has agreed, after the request. For an outbreak or recall, the rule also calls for an electronic sortable spreadsheet of the records for the requested foods, where smaller farms, retailers and businesses may use another format. You keep required records for 2 years from the date you created or obtained them.

2years to keep FSMA 204 records from the date you created or obtained them

Source ecfr.gov

Deli salads have a short shelf life, and a recall can involve many small batches made on the same day. Batch records that live in a binder are hard to search at speed. Our post on the 24-hour sortable spreadsheet shows how to get ready.

A practical checklist for a deli salad maker

• Confirm each product is a refrigerated, ready-to-eat, non-meat salad.
• Decide how you will build a lot code for each batch, and print it on the case label.
• Log the lot codes of every listed ingredient you use in each batch.
• Keep receiving records for every ingredient delivery.
• Keep shipping records that carry the new lot code to each customer.
• Write down where the records live, so anyone can find them within a day.
• Run a mock recall on one salad batch and time it.

Where Lotcrumb fits

Lotcrumb is being built to read the invoices, bills of lading and case labels a small food company already has, pull out lot codes and key data elements, and assemble the records when someone asks. It is not built yet. Join the waitlist.

This is general information about a federal food safety rule, not legal or regulatory advice. Check the current rule text and FDA guidance, and talk to a qualified food safety or legal professional about your situation.