Form library · Food safety
Food traceability template
For food businesses testing their traceability records. Record exercise brief, trace chain and reconciliation. Try the form below, see every question or download a blank PDF or Word copy.
Ready to use from the form library, and every question is yours to edit. Trial from £1, cancel any time.
Try it on your phone
Try it on this phone
Fill in the food traceability exercise on your phone now
See how the food traceability exercise looks on your phone
Scan the code with your phone camera. It opens the real form, no sign-up needed.
Open the live example and fill it in, just as your team would on site. No sign-up needed.
See it on this phoneEvery question is editable. Add this form to your account, then change the wording, add or remove questions and options, and make it fit your own jobs.
What is the purpose of food traceability?
FSA guidance explains traceability and how it supports food withdrawal and recall. An exercise tests whether the business can retrieve relevant supply and distribution records; completing this form does not establish product safety.
Last updated . Facts checked by the SiteSurvey team on 6 October 2026 against FSA food traceability withdrawal and recall guidance and GOV.UK food incidents withdrawals and recalls.
Try the food traceability exercise form live
Answer a few questions and watch it adapt. Your answers are not saved, and any photos you add are deleted within the hour.
This is the real form as your team would use it: questions appear as you answer, scores work themselves out and you can add photos and signatures. No sign-up needed.
Want to see one filled in? See a completed food traceability exercise report (PDF), made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit.
Fill it in on a phone or tablet
Your team completes the food traceability exercise on site in the SiteSurvey app on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. The project name and address fill in for them, it works without signal, and it syncs when the device is back online with photos kept against the question they answer.
Customers and subcontractors do not need the app: send them a link and they can fill it in from any browser.
Every question in the food traceability exercise template
A food traceability exercise linking selected batches, suppliers, production records, customer destinations, quantity reconciliation and information gaps. 6 sections and 33 questions. Follow-up questions and guidance appear only when an answer calls for them, so the person on site never sees the ones that do not apply.
Make it your own: every question is editable
This is a starting point, not a fixed form. Once it is in your SiteSurvey account you can reword any question, add or remove questions, sections and answer options, and add your own logo, so it fits the way your team works and the jobs you do.
Details you only enter once
Add this form to a project in SiteSurvey and it fills in what the project already knows, so nobody on site retypes it and every form on the job uses the same names. Anything filled in can still be changed.
- Project: the project name
- Site or premises address: the site address, from the space or the project
- Client or organisation: the project's customer
- Product and selected batch: the product it is opened for
Record details and scope
- ProjectShort answer
Filled in from the project in SiteSurvey.
Fills in from the project name - Site or premises addressShort answerFills in from the site address, from the space or the project
- Client or organisationShort answerFills in from the project's customer
- Record date*Date
- Person completing the record*Short answer
- CheckThis is a traceability exercise record, not a recall notice, live stock system or automatic notification to authorities or customers.
- CheckFSA guidance explains traceability and how it supports food withdrawal and recall. An exercise tests whether the business can retrieve relevant supply and distribution records; completing this form does not establish product safety.
Exercise brief
- Product and selected batch*Short answerFills in from the product it is opened for
- Exercise boundaries and objective*Short answer
- Start date and time*Short answer
- Exercise coordinator*Short answer
Trace chain
- Supply or distribution linkRepeat for each supply or distribution link. Each one asks:
- Link type*Choose one
- Supplier
- Internal process
- Business customer
- Business or process reference*Short answer
- Batch, delivery and date references*Short answer
- Quantity and unit*Short answer
- Supporting record location*Short answer
Reconciliation
- Total quantity introduced and unit*Short answer
- Accounted quantity and calculation reference*Short answer
- Unaccounted quantity, losses and explanation*Notes
- Finish time and retrieval durationShort answer
- Missing links and retrieval obstaclesNotes
Identify missing links, quantities or records and the time they affected. Keep exercise findings distinct from an actual incident.
Review
- Improvements to traceability arrangements*Notes
- Food safety reviewerShort answer
- Retest arrangementShort answer
Actions and review
- Are further actions required?*Choose one
- Yes
- No
- Further actionRepeat for each further action. Each one asks:Shown when “Are further actions required?” is “Yes”
- Action and evidence reference*Notes
- Person responsible*Short answer
- Target dateDate
- Action status*Choose one
- Open
- In progress
- Completed
- Completion evidence*NotesShown when “Action status” is “Completed”
- Outstanding limitations and information to pass onNotes
- Record status*Choose one
- Ready for review
- Further work needed
- Work or use stopped
- Reviewed byShort answer
- Review dateDate
- Author signature*Signature
- CheckSigning records the information entered. It does not itself certify legal compliance, remove a limitation or authorise unsafe work.
Scope and responsibility
This is a traceability exercise record, not a recall notice, live stock system or automatic notification to authorities or customers.
What a useful entry looks like
Missing links and retrieval obstacles
Identify missing links, quantities or records and the time they affected. Keep exercise findings distinct from an actual incident.
The selected batch was traced to dispatch records, but one destination quantity could not be reconciled. The missing record is assigned for investigation.
Fictional example of record wording. Use the actual evidence and approved arrangements for your job; this is not a completed report or an instruction to carry out the work.
See it filled in
A completed food traceability exercise report, made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit: every answer, the photos, the guidance that applied and the sign-off, ready to send as a PDF.
Food Traceability Exercise FAQs
How should I record “Missing links and retrieval obstacles”?
Identify missing links, quantities or records and the time they affected. Keep exercise findings distinct from an actual incident.
Does this contact suppliers?
No. Record the evidence obtained through your authorised exercise process.
Does a successful exercise prove food is safe?
No. It tests retrieval and reconciliation; product safety assessment is separate.
How should quantity differences be handled?
Record consistent units, documented losses and unresolved differences with an action owner.
What are the limits of this template?
This is a traceability exercise record, not a recall notice, live stock system or automatic notification to authorities or customers.
Can I complete this form on site and share the record?
In the SiteSurvey app the form works offline, with signatures recorded against the questions. Share the completed record as a PDF or a link. Dates and action owners are recorded fields; this form does not send reminders or update other systems.
Related
Related templates
Templates that go with the food traceability exercise form
A dish-level allergen record with ingredient evidence, the 14 regulated allergen groups, cross-contact controls, recipe changes and reviewer sign-off.
A food recall exercise record covering the simulated issue, affected batches, traceability evidence, contact routes, reconciliation and improvement actions.
A pest-control visit record with observed evidence, monitoring locations, proofing and hygiene findings, treatment details and follow-up recommendations.
Use this food traceability exercise form with your team
Add it from the form library in one click, change any question, and every completed form becomes a branded PDF report.
Start your trial →