Staying Current with US Food-Grade Warehouse Requirements

Food safety guidelines can be complex and multi-faceted, impacting end-to-end supply chains. Food suppliers and manufacturers must ensure products move through processes safely, from production line to consumption. To that end, food storage brings a unique set of conditions.

Visibility and transparency across this specialized supply chain is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the product and its packaging, storage, transport, and delivery. However, not all storage facilities are equipped to handle the responsibility. Here’s why.

Food Supply Chains’ Margin of Error

Numerous national and international regulations govern how food products must be stored, with additional requirements for specific types of food grade products such as dry, canned, fresh, refrigerated, or frozen goods. The protocols for specialty food designations: Kosher, Halal, non-GMO, allergen-free, and others add more layers of complexity.

Without an ongoing understanding of these designations and their corresponding requirements, food safety risks increase and can lead to poor quality, spoilage, contamination, cross-contamination, product loss, and pose dangers when consumed. For the manufacturer, suppliers, distributors, 3PL-providers, and retailers, the disruption is costly: fines and penalties, downtime, contractual breach, and marred brand reputation.

Regulations, Laws, and The Importance of Follow Through

No matter where you decide to store food products, both state and federal agencies work in tandem to provide guidance and protections to minimize risk across food grade supply chains.

The department of health or agricultural branch of each state works with the following federal agencies to enforce regulations and ensure compliance at each step:

• Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): To reduce the risk of the spread of foodborne illnesses, they monitor all control processes and prevention efforts. Through tracking, investigating, and data gathering of food borne illnesses and possible outbreaks, public safety is better protected.
• Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS): Monitors and evaluates commercial meat, processed eggs, and poultry products ensuring their wholesomeness, consumption safety, packaging, and labeling.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Other food items not regulated by the FSIS are managed by the FDA, ensuring sanitary processes leading to safe public consumption. The agency also confirms commodities are properly labeled.

As people, science, research and technologies continue to evolve, food safety standards guidelines and regulations follow.

Food Safety Update 2024

An integral piece of the FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint was put in motion this year, providing a pathway for faster identification and rapid removal of potentially contaminated food products, to reduce the instances of foodborne illnesses and/or deaths.

The 2024 update to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of 2011 puts special focus on the traceability of food sourcing across food grade supply chains, particularly those goods on the Food Traceability List (FTL).

By January 20, 2026, all persons responsible for manufacturing, processing, packaging, or holding foods included on the FTL must maintain records containing Key Data Elements (KDEs) associated with specific Critical Tracking Events (CTEs), and quickly provide that information to the FDA. The rule covers domestic and foreign firms producing food for U.S. consumption and companies involved in the process—from farm-to-table.

Food-Grade Warehousing Requirements

State and federal laws regarding food grade warehouse safety operations may differ, and specific types of food grade categories will dictate varied guidelines for storage. For example, dry, frozen, and refrigerated products carry other risks compared to fresh or perishable goods stored.

To better understand the implications of food-grade warehousing in your location, it’s important to refer to state-specific regulations. Here are some primary points your food grade storage facility(s) should be proactive about:

• Pest Control: Grain and rice can be a pest’s best friend. Effective dry storage warehouse practices entails consistent indoor and outdoor pest control measures to prevent contamination. It’s also a good idea to regularly inspect the warehouse for holes and other gaps where insects, rodents or bats can easily enter. Wide temperature swings from season-to-season can also compromise building integrity.

• Sanitation and Hygiene: For fresh produce, a storage facility is only as healthy as its sanitation and hygiene. Careful handling of raw foods can prevent the spread of food allergens through cross-contamination, environmental pathogens, and employee illnesses.
• Temperature Process Controls: Temperature-sensitive food products, such as frozen or perishable dairy, produce, spices, and nuts, require precise environmental monitoring to prevent spoilage, mold growth, and other hazards. Regular inspections of air cooling systems and refrigeration equipment help maintain the exact conditions necessary for safe storage. These systems are essential for efficient food storage and prolonging the shelf life of consumables.

Beyond hazard analysis, foreign material control, tracing, remediation, and recall protocols, proper food storage practices include maintaining FDA registration, engaging transportation inspections, developing security policies, and more.

10 Must-Asks When Choosing a Food Warehousing Company

The best technologies and systems are optimized when FMSA-trained employees are at the helm.

But how would you know what to look for in a food storage facility when your business knowledge is elsewhere—refer to an expert.

Use the following must-asks when searching for a food storage warehouse:

1. Is the company current and in good standing with food safety regulators?
2. Are their employees trained under FSMA guidelines?
3. Where are the food storage warehouses located?
4. Can they scale and align with your growing business needs?
5. Do they provide cold storage or temperature-controlled spaces?
6. How do they monitor and maintain quality assurance?
7. Can they offer logistics expertise in food storage and transportation?
8. Are their warehouse systems integrated with technologies to improve, manage and optimize efficiency, tracking, and risk mitigation?
9. What is their typical response time when a disruption occurs?
10. Do they offer tailored solutions to meet your unique brand needs?

WSI Food-Grade Warehouse Services

As a trusted 3PL, WSI brings extensive experience in food grade logistics, offering tailored storage and distribution solutions for dry goods, raw materials, and finished food products.

Our food-grade warehouses are FDA-, USDA-, FSMA-compliant and meet all regulatory authorities’ requirements for warehouses. We integrate all necessary sanitary and safety procedures across our food warehousing inventory management services, while providing timely delivery of products.

WSI’s lot tracking and tracing capabilities chronicle food safety so you know your product’s condition, wherever it is. In the event of a food recall, our system makes it easier to reroute products and other adjustments, minimizing downtime.

Many of our customers rely on WSI’s value-added services too, streamlining food supply chains and eliminating safety gaps that could otherwise harm the public, and wreak havoc on your operations and business reputation.

We’d love to enhance your warehousing and distribution processes with our food-grade warehousing services, technologies, and other support offerings.

Learn more about our logistical services tailor-fit for the food industry.