Attention All Kroger Food Suppliers!
Kroger is requesting suppliers complete new FSMA Section 204 Traceability declarations for applicable food items by December 18, 2026.
Who is impacted? Suppliers with items in Meat/Seafood, Bakery, Produce, and Grocery categories.
New Required Attribute FSMA Section 204 Traceability
Select one of the following:
- APPLICABLE
- NOT APPLICABLE – KILL STEP APPLIED
- NOT APPLICABLE – NOT COVERED FTL
If APPLICABLE is selected, the Packaging Type Code attribute will also be required.
Important Dates
- December 18, 2026: Kroger's deadline for suppliers to complete declarations on applicable items.
- Early January 2027: FSMA-related attributes will become required within Syndigo. Applicable items missing the required declarations will not be able to publish to Kroger until the required FSMA information has been provided.
Suppliers are responsible for determining whether their products are subject to the FDA Food Traceability Rule and selecting the appropriate declaration. Kroger cannot determine whether an item is subject to the rule, whether an exemption applies, or which response should be selected.
Resources
Kroger Food Traceability Information: https://www.thekrogerco.com/vendor-suppliers/vendors/food-traceability/
Kroger Supplier Letter: See Below
Questions regarding Kroger's requirements should be directed to Kroger at [email protected].
Vendor Letter From Kroger to their Vendor Community:
Dear Valued Kroger Supplier,
Thank you to everyone who submitted a traceability contact following our August request. This information helps Kroger send compliance requirements, training opportunities, and implementation updates to the appropriate contacts within your organization.
Food suppliers must now review the products they provide to Kroger and determine which items are included on the FDA Food Traceability List (FTL) as detailed within the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). For each applicable item, complete the required FSMA self-declaration in the product’s information management platform: Salsify, Syndigo, or 1WS.
Complete declarations for existing applicable items by December 18, 2026. Beginning on that date, the required declaration must also be completed when setting up an applicable new item.
Remember: The FTL lists foods, not companies. Review each item separately based on its ingredients, formulation, form, processing, and any applicable exemptions. Kroger cannot determine whether an item is subject to the rule or whether an exemption applies on a supplier’s behalf, Kroger also will not retain records of exemptions but does require suppliers to maintain their own documentation of such and provide it if requested.
Kroger will provide separate guidance on future ASN 856, EDI, labeling, testing, and implementation requirements. Do not make technical changes based on assumptions or requirements that Kroger has not formally communicated.
Required Actions
- Complete the FSMA self-declaration for each applicable item by December 18, 2026.
- Submit the required Contact Nomination Form if you have not already done so, or update your compliance contact’s information.
- Review the Kroger FSMA FAQ and available support resources in the Supplier Traceability Hub.
- Monitor Kroger communications for future ASN, EDI, labeling, testing, and training requirements.
- Register your interest in upcoming Kroger traceability pilots, webinars, town halls, and training opportunities.
Thank you for helping Kroger build accurate and dependable traceability across the supply chain.
Sincerely,
Howard Popoola
Vice President, Corporate Food Technology & Regulatory Compliance
The Kroger Co.
1014 Vine Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Please post your questions in the comments area below. You can subscribe to this and other pages in the Community for content updates.
@Val, thanks for the prompt response!
Please, see attached screen shots showing that there are currently 215 items published to Kroger's old GLN.
Also, the other screen shot shows the FSMA2 204 attributes already entered for all those items which migrated from VIP.
Will that information disappear if I implement the Kroger playlist, which I would need to update again? Will this be enough without publishing to the new GLN?
@nancyVigo, thank you very much for the screenshots. This helps.
The details under Regulatory Information are fine and will remain there, in case they are needed for other retailers.
Korger is only looking for the FSMA Section 204 Traceability attribute shown in the screenshot above (the pictured item does not reflect the data entered by your company, it is a test item) and, if this is set to Applicable, then Packaging Type Code also needs to be provided, please. Nothing else needs to change for the items.
If there is anything we can assist with, please let us know and we would be delighted to. Thank you!
@George_C, thanks for the response, as well your patience and guidance.
I am just trying to be clear if this is something that I need to add to every single item migrated from VIP, but not published with Kroger API since it would include 215 items that were previously published with the old GLN.
Our team added the FSMA 204 at the beginning of 2025 as a FUSE upload, which included all the items we have in 1WS.
Since the migration from VIP, I have only published 3 items using the new Kroger API and I made sure that the FSMA 204 requirements that we had previously uploaded were present. I did not use the Kroger Item Attribute Set shown on the previous post and attached here.
All items passed the queue and were synchronized.
Is this something new to Kroger API that I would need to address every time I publish a requested item?
