Tech tools help businesses stay compliant with ever-complex regulations
By Fred Whipp, vice president of business development at mpro5
Compliance in the foodservice and catering industry has grown increasingly complex as regulations become more stringent. With over 12 federal regulatory agencies and more than 30 laws linked to monitoring food safety, allergen labeling, hygiene and traceability, companies must grapple with an array of legal issues. These standards, which are higher than ever, require catering businesses to automate and streamline their compliance approach to meet federal and local regulations successfully.
Why compliance matters now more than ever
Recent legislation—such as the U.S. Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act—has reshaped how the hospitality industry approaches food transparency, especially regarding major food allergens. Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the FASTER Act added sesame as the ninth major allergen requiring labeling in the United States. This marked the first addition to the list of major allergens since 2004.
Enforcing clear labeling requirements ensures that the act enhances consumer protection, particularly for individuals with life-threatening allergies, while providing clearer compliance standards for foodservice and catering businesses. For professionals in catering and events, however, compliance goes beyond simply following a law. It’s all about protecting the customers’ health as well as your brand’s reputation.
As the stakes rise, compliance presents itself as both a legal and a major reputational responsibility. An incident of non-compliance may result in steep fines, business disruptions and a potential PR crisis. Today, food businesses are trying to deal with compliance more effectively with the help of new technology, such as IoT, AI and automation, to keep themselves compliant with a complex network of regulatory bodies.
IoT: Real-time monitoring of food safety
IoT has changed how food companies track and manage food product safety across the supply chain. Caterers can record and analyze critical safety parameters like temperature, humidity and expiration dates through the deployment of sensors, RFID tags and other connected devices.
IoT sensors, for instance, can be placed in refrigerated transport vehicles and storage units that send warnings to operators if the temperatures exceed the safety zone, allowing immediate corrective action to take place. The proactive nature of this approach is statutory for modern safety regulations in the U.S.
For catering businesses, this technology does more than just continuously monitor; it generates data that proves compliance with storage handling requirements should it ever be needed for a regulatory audit.
Automation: Streamlining compliance processes
Compliance is supported by automation technology in performing repetitive and time-sensitive tasks. Everything from monitoring storage temperatures to cleanliness inspections can be performed easily by automated systems. Automation reduces the need for most manual checks, many of which are prone to human error, especially in food production and preparation by a catering company.
There are also safety protocols kept intact by automated systems without the risk of human error in a busy kitchen or event setting. Automatically generated scheduling for cleaning and equipment maintenance to maintain hygiene standards are examples of this. These innovations come in handy in busy environments where there is simply no room for mistakes.
On the management side, automation relieves the administrative burden of compliance. Scheduling inspections, updating compliance documentation and generating audit trails can be completed automatically to ensure businesses are always ready for regulatory inspections. When food safety laws evolve, having this form of infrastructure makes it much easier for catering businesses to respond promptly and transparently to regulatory requirements.
Operating within evolving regulations
The compliance landscape in 2024 was marked by demands for transparency, sustainability and traceability at every level of the food supply chain. Foodservice companies must now track the life journey of food through to service, which continues to be challenging as laws intensify. For example, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and associated guidelines, particularly around allergen management and cross-contamination, have emphasized the need for documented traceability throughout the food lifecycle. FSMA regulations mandate that businesses maintain detailed records showing how food is sourced, processed, stored and served. These traceability requirements align with broader sustainability and safety goals, and ensure that businesses can quickly and accurately respond to food safety incidents or regulatory audits.
IoT and automation can now facilitate much of this documentation process for catering companies and, by implication, create a healthy digital paper trail that shows their compliance at every point. This digital record will be critical in case of audits and can be used to reassure clients that the food served at their events meets the highest standards of safety and ethics.
Outlook: Future-proofing compliance
For the foodservice operator in the catering and events business, compliance becomes less about checking boxes and more about the ongoing commitment that changes as new laws and regulations get handed down. IoT and automation play a strategic role in increasing safety, building customer trust, and protecting their operations from potential legal and financial consequences.
The ability to stay ahead means embracing innovative solutions for consistent, data-backed compliance. And as these regulations continue to evolve, the foodservice operators that proactively adopt these technologies will be best positioned to meet not only the demands of today, but also those of tomorrow, protecting their brands while ensuring customer safety with every serving.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fred Whipp is the vice president of business development at mpro5, the process management spp and customer-first solution trusted by foodservice, retail and facilities management. As an experienced business development executive who leads sales conversations with data, Fred is an expert on best practices and digital transformation in facilities management and food safety.
