One step forward, one step back
The CFIA defines traceability as “the ability to track the movement of a food product, one step forward and one step back in the supply chain.”
Source: CFIA, Traceability requirements under the SFCR
Selling to Loblaw
Their onboarding will ask
how you trace a lot.
GS1 Canada names Loblaw Companies on its grocery supplier checklist. Loblaw publishes its own supplier requirements behind a portal we could not read, so this page states the verified half and marks the rest as unverified.
Sourcing
What we verified, and what we did not
We only state a requirement if we read it at the source. Everything we could not read is listed just as plainly — treat it as a question for Loblaw, not as a requirement we have confirmed.
Verified — read at the source
- A GS1 licence and a GTIN for every product variantGS1 Canada states a GS1 licence is “the foundation for selling to Canadian retailers,” and that “Each unique product needs its own GTIN — that includes every different size, flavour, format, or packaging variation.”
- Product data loaded to the ECCnet RegistryThe checklist instructs suppliers to “Register for the ECCnet Registry (NIS) and use ProSYNC to load your product data.”
- The Retail Trading Partner Services Bundle for Loblaw CompaniesGS1 Canada names Loblaw Companies on its grocery checklist and states that to sell to a named retailer “you must select the Retail Trading Partner Services Bundle. This ensures all required images and data content are captured.”
Source: GS1 Canada, Grocery Checklist — read 2026-08-25
Not verified — confirm with Loblaw
- Loblaw’s own published supplier requirementsWe attempted to read
loblaw.ca/en/supplier/andloblaw.ca/en/supplier-portal-support/on 2026-08-25. Both returned HTTP 403 to our request, so we have not read Loblaw’s own wording and will not paraphrase it. - Any Loblaw-specific lot-code, GS1-128 or recall-response requirementNot verified. GS1 Canada’s grocery checklist covers listing and product data; it does not state lot-level requirements for this retailer. Confirm directly with Loblaw’s vendor onboarding team before relying on anything.
No source we could read states these — checked 2026-08-25
Applies regardless
The regulatory floor is not optional
Whatever Loblaw asks for commercially, the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations apply underneath it. These we did read at the source.
A lot code, kept two years
Traceability documents carry the common name, a lot code or unique identifier, and the name and address of the location — kept for two years, on paper or electronically.
Source: CFIA, Traceability requirements under the SFCR
It reaches the grower
The requirements reach businesses that “grow and harvest fresh fruits or vegetables to be exported or sent across provincial or territorial boundaries.”
Source: CFIA, New traceability requirements
Shipped, not roadmap
What Light Engine already does about it
Every item is a running endpoint or screen in the product today.
A lot code on every harvest
Seeding, transplant, harvest, QA result and despatch land against a lot code as they happen.
Recall query, both directions
One query answers what went into a lot and where that lot went.
Reverse trace from a supplier batch
List every lot that came off an upstream batch, across every flush and zone.
A recall drill that times itself
The screen clocks the drill. We do not print a number here — run it and quote your own.
The rehearsal becomes a record
Who, which lot, when, how long — and what was missing, written down verbatim.
An audit packet you can hand over
Trace report, elapsed time and rehearsal history as one printable document.
An SFCR export for the CFIA
A date-ranged export of the trace ledger as CSV or JSON.
Food-safety input records
CanadaGAP V9 input records, validated so an evidence-free record is rejected.
A scannable barcode for the lot code
Code 128, Code 93, EAN-13 or UPC images for your own labels and internal scanning.
Light Engine does not issue GTINs, print GS1-128 case labels, or act as your ECCnet listing — those come from your own GS1 Canada licence and labelling system. It holds the lot identity they carry. Full boundary on the traceability overview.
Run the drill before they ask
Walk into Loblaw onboarding with a timed rehearsal, an audit packet and two years of lot records already in order.