For Mid-Size U.S. Food Processors

From farm
to shelf,
traceable.

Chitraka is purpose-built FSMA 204 compliance software for the processors the enterprise platforms forgot. Capture critical tracking events. Cut your audit time. Stay in business when the deadline hits.

What is FSMA 204? →

Lot #CK-2026-04287 LIVE TRACE

CommodityGround beef, 80/20

OriginCuming County, NE

CTE CapturedReceiving, Transformation

KDEs CapturedAll required ✓

Trace-back Time3.2 seconds

"From shelf to source in under four seconds — that used to take us a week of phone calls."

FDA Enforcement Begins

— days until July 20, 2028

Section 204 · Food Traceability Final Rule · 21 CFR Part 1, Subpart S

01. The Problem

A regulation built for giants. Hitting everyone.

The original FSMA 204 deadline was January 2026. The FDA pushed it to July 2028 because most of the industry wasn't ready. Don't bet on a third extension. Enterprise processors have entire compliance departments. Mid-size operations have a plant manager, a paper binder, and a shrinking window. Chitraka exists for that gap.

$10M

Average Recall

The average direct cost of a single food recall in the United States. Lawsuits, lost shelf space, and damaged retailer relationships push the real number higher. Source: GMA / Food Marketing Institute.

7 days

Old Standard

The legacy time it takes a typical mid-size processor to manually trace a contaminated lot back through their supply chain.

24 hr

New Requirement

Under FSMA 204, processors must produce a complete electronic traceability record for the FDA on demand within one business day.

02. The Solution

One ledger. Every link.

Chitraka captures every Critical Tracking Event your operation generates and stores the Key Data Elements the FDA requires — automatically, in plain English, ready to export. Hover any node to see what we capture.

Step 01

Farm

Origin capture: lot, harvest date, grower ID, location coordinates.

5 KDEs Captured

Step 02

Processor

Transformation events: input lots, output lots, processing windows, cold-chain logs.

Real-time CTE

Step 03

Distributor

Shipment-level tracking: pallet IDs, transport conditions, chain of custody.

Auto-logged

Step 04

Retailer

Final-mile receipt confirmation. Closed loop. Audit-ready record.

Trace in 3 sec

Module I

Capture without changing how you work.

Mobile-first scanning, paper-form digitization, and ERP connectors. Your team uses Chitraka in the cooler, on the line, and at the dock — no IT project required.

Module II

Store every KDE the FDA actually asks for.

Every Key Data Element the FDA requires, mapped to the right Critical Tracking Event. We update the schema when the FDA does. You don't have to read the Federal Register.

Module III

Export a sortable spreadsheet in 24 minutes, not 24 hours.

When the FDA calls, Chitraka generates the full traceability lot record on demand — formatted exactly to the agency's published specification.

03. FSMA 204, in Plain English

The rule. The deadline. The reality.

"Persons who manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods on the Food Traceability List must establish and maintain records containing Key Data Elements associated with specific Critical Tracking Events."

Translation: if your business touches leafy greens, soft cheeses, shell eggs, fresh-cut produce, ready-to-eat deli salads, certain seafood, or many other foods — and you can't produce a complete digital record on 24-hour notice — you face fines, recall liability, and lost contracts with retailers who require compliant suppliers.

WHOAnyone touching the FTL. Manufacturers, processors, packers, holders. Mid-size operations are explicitly in scope.
WHATCapture KDEs at every CTE. Growing, receiving, transforming, creating, shipping. All electronic. All sortable.
WHENJuly 20, 2028. Compliance begins. No grace period after that date.
WHYFaster outbreak response. The FDA wants to trace a contaminated lot back to its source in hours, not weeks.
COSTNon-compliance is existential. Fines, recalls, lost retail contracts, and personal liability for plant management.

04. Why Chitraka

Built for the missing middle.

Enterprise platforms charge enterprise prices. Generic SaaS tools don't speak FSMA. Chitraka is the only solution designed from day one for processors doing $5M to $200M in annual revenue.

Feature	Chitraka	Enterprise Platforms	Generic SaaS	Paper / Spreadsheets
FSMA 204 Native	Built around it	Module add-on	Not supported	Manual
Mid-size Pricing	Yes	$100K+ annual	Variable	Hidden labor cost
Implementation Time	Under 30 days	6 to 12 months	3 to 6 months	N / A
FDA-Ready Export	One click	Custom report	Manual build	Manual build
Schema Auto-Updates	Included	Service ticket	Customer responsibility	N / A

Don't wait until 2027 to start.